SOS: Save Our Souls
by Mosaic Broken Hearts
Summary: It's another Lost OC Story... yay! submissions closed.
1. SOS: Save Our Souls

SOS: Save Our Souls

An Original Character Story by Elyad

Submissions Hereby Closed

Disclaimers:

I don't own Lost

I don't own most OCs

I don't own Jurassic Park

I don't own Lord of the flies

I don't own a Bug's Life

I don't own Finding Nemo

I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I don't own the chapter titles. They come from the following:

"you're gonna be the one that saves me" – Wonderwall by Oasis

"Take what you need and be on your way" – Stop crying your heart out by Oasis

"Livin' in a Shell with no soul" – World so Cold by Three Days Grace

"One day this worlds going to end" – Face Down by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

"Now All I've Got are these Photographs" – Photographs by Rihanna

"I'll be there for you through it all" – Your Guardian Angel by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

"when darkness turns to light" – It ends tonight by the All-American Rejects

It ain't over 'til it's over by Lenny Krevitz


	2. Got Our Tickets ready: Accepted OCs

**NOT ACCEPTING ANYMORE OCS!**

**Some OCs you might have put as a fuselage person, but I seriously don't have enough room for them all in fuselage. So I put the ones I thought would go better in the fuselage there.**

**Here are the accepted OCS:**

**Fuselage:**

Oswald "Oz" Geller – the ashamed ex-bassist

Jennifer "Jenny" Poesy – the carefree FBI Agent

Laura Britt – the trustworthy FBI Agent

Erica West – the young musician

Elijah "Eli" Miller – the clumsy teenager

Luka Sokolov – the outspoken teenager

Petro Sokolov – the violent doctor

Max Prescott – the professional surfer

Jason Littleton – the heroic brother

Yoon-Cha "Yoon" Paik – the unwilling spy

Samuel "Sammy" Vance – the brave criminal

Maya Sahin – the angry assassin

Liliana Mkabayi Mkhize – the unfaithful wife

Michelle Peyton Mathews-Mkhize – the soft spoken business woman

Roxanne "Roxy" Marino – the searching adult

Aryel "Ary" Demaree – the writer

James "Jay" LaFleur – the time redux

Nemo Fuller – the Agent

Evangeline "Eva" Mercier – the lawyer

**Tailies:**

Induala "Indy" Karim – the abused trophy wife

Akilina "Lina" Sokolovna – the scared teenager

Constance Phillips – the vengeful police officer

Warren Murdock – the calm negotiator

Layla "Lay" Morgan – the wedding planner

Ashley Harrison – the stubborn murderer

Lucian "LJ" Jones – the comic book artist

Nicanor "Nic" Guzham-Herrera – the resistance leader

Erin Edith – the girl on the run

Damien Edith – the boy on the run

Jonas Clark – the senator

Kallirroe "Killy" Mellas – the Israeli fighting instructor

Leonard Krill – the ex-cop

Serena Ashling – the guarded ID Processor

Dominic "Dom" Shephard – the brother

Felicity "Flick" Mercier – the French teenager

**Others:**

Hayden Shephard – the blind sister

Katarina "Kat" Morel – the second-in-command

Josephine "Josie" Morel – the cunning teenager

Renata "Rena" Suzuki – the eccentric Other

Esther Sahin – the fertility doctor

Angus "Gus" Rowley – the psychologist

Elliot Lee – the rebellious Other

Rachel "Rach" Corman – the shy teenager

Giliam "Gil" Baker-Maes – the mentor

Kristijan "Krist" Vinko – the comedic Other

Noelani "Lani" Kalei – the ageless amnesiac

Camilla "Cam" Alpert – the fiery sister

Carlos Sanz – the stubborn soldier

Joshua Price – the hunter

Peter Stanhope – the laid back teenager

Scarlett "Scar" Lynch – the violent teenager

Bracken Hollister – the fiery electrician

Matthew "Matt" Chang – the deaf doctor

Isobel "Izzie" Chang – the psychometric

**Freighters:**

Axel Buckner – the junkie

Adem Patel – the paranoid soldier

Devika "Devi" Sahin – the indifferent assassin

Olivia "Liv" Piersol – the straightforward doctor

Lars Entesano – the ladies man

Caradoc Llwellyn – the deck hand

Sadie Catherine Jones – the ex-drug addict

Abegaila "Abby" Kalani – the anthropologist

Maleah "Leah" Kalani – the artist

Lara Swan – the Greek Explorer

Lauren Terry – the British club owner

Emmeline "Emmy" Lefèvre – the tattooed lady

Vincent "Vince" Callione – the stowaway

Zacharias "Zach" Marangoudakis – the mechanic

Angelica "Angie" Lefèvre – the scientist

**Minor Characters:**

Deniz Sahin – the happy-go-lucky girl

Molly Alpert – the adopted one

Jessica Aldwin – the strange girl

Melinda "Mindy" Mercier – the quiet twin

Lucille "Lucy" Mercier – the kid genius

Arlene Scoresby – the wild woman


	3. Prologue: On the Island

**Here's the first chapter. It's really just a teaser chapter of sorts. Enjoy! I don't own Lost.**

'Bug-eyed Bastard,' Hayden muttered darkly, kicking up dirt as she walked across the Barracks.

'How the Hell do you know he's bug-eyed?' a voice asked walking closer to her. She smiled as she continued walking, not even bothering to look at the person who was now walking next to her. Like it would do any use anyway.

'People talk, amazingly enough, Gus,' she said.

'Sarcasm's your self-de-'

'Sarcasm's what I do,' she interrupted.

'No, it's your way to make sure that people don't get close.'

'People can get as close as they damn well want,' Hayden said stubbornly. 'I ain't going to open up.'

'Hayden!' someone called out.

The voice came from behind the two of them, so they stopped and turned.

'I heard you had another argument with Ben,' the girl said.

'And I heard you had another one with Kat, Josie,' Hayden countered.

'Yeah, well, Katarina's on the rampage, trying to find-'

'You?'

'No,' the girl, Josie, smirked. 'You.'

'Why?'

'Your argument with Ben pissed her off. She's his best friend, or whatever.'

'So what were you arguing with your mother about?'

'_Katarina _is being her usual self, so…'

'So you still want to stay at my place for another few weeks?'

'Thanks for offering, Hay!' Josie exclaimed.

--

An exotic looking woman ran down the beach, towards the statue. After all this time, she wanted to know. She _needed _to know.

As soon as she got to the statue she went inside and down into the main chamber.

On the other side of the chamber, right across from the door, there was a tapestry. The woman walked over and touched it, admiring it.

'I hadn't finished it last time I saw you,' a voice behind her said. She turned.

'I know,' she said.

'I haven't seen you in sixty years, Lani,' the man said. 'Why now?'

'I'm two hundred and eight today, Jacob. And I think I'm ready to know.'

--

'Who the Hell does she think she is?!' Katarina Morel fumed as she paced back and forward in front of her best friend.

'Kat,' Ben said.

'She can't leave!'

'I know. That's why you need to make sure she does not take the Submarine.'

'Hayden is blind, Ben. How the Hell will she is able to steal a submarine?'

'Juliet. Josephine. Quite a few others. You and Tom need to make sure no one will be able to take the Submarine.'

'Okay.' She paused. 'The real reason I came over here wasn't to rant about Hayden.'

'Then what was the reason, Katarina?'

'I…I saw something earlier. I was in the infirmary. Juliet says I wasn't supposed to see it. Almost everyone is beneath me on the chain of command. I can see anything I want to that concerns them. But you're the only one who I can't without your permission. So it must be you. Do you have an inoperable tumor on your spine, Ben?' she asked, tears in her eyes.

'I do, Kat,' he said.

'Oh my God,' she said softly, a hand over her mouth as tears fell from her eyes. She moved forward and hugged her lifelong friend.

--

Rachel Corman looked in between the two women, noticing how everyone else in the room could also tell that the tension these two provided when facing off could be cut with a knife. Several times.

'This is complete trash,' Camilla said, blunt as always.

'Well, I personally think that this is better than that crap you picked last time, Camilla,' Renata said, crossing her arms over her chest.

'I agree with Cam,' Carlos interjected. 'The way they treat each other…'

'Is what, exactly?' Esther asked.

'A good depiction of how people treat each other. So Cam's right. She always is,' he said throwing an arm across the back of Cam's chair.

'Remove your arm from my chair, Sanz,' Camilla hissed. 'Or I will remove your arm from your body.'

Carlos quickly moved his arm.

'I know why Ben isn't here,' Carlos said in realization. 'This is sci-fi. And he hates it. Come to think of it, where are Kat and Lani?'

'Kat's having a hissy fit about something,' Esther said. 'And Lani's…'

'She went to do something on the other side of the island,' Cam supplied.

'Why would she do that?' Rachel asked. 'Isn't today her birthday?'

'She's two hundred and eight,' Cam said. 'Even after your fiftieth it loses its meaning. As I was saying though, this is trash.'

'I agree,' Adam said. 'It's not even literature.'

'And why isn't it literature, Adam? I'm dying to know,' Juliet said.

'There's no metaphor,' he said.

Juliet opened her mouth to speak, but at that moment the ground began shaking and a noise filled the air.

'Under the doorway!' Carlos called out. They group of them all moved so they were standing in the doorways to the room.

Just as quickly as it had started, the shaking stopped.

'What the Hell?' Cam asked.

'You don't know what happened?' Rachel asked. This must be serious if Camilla Alpert didn't know what happened.

'Outside,' Cam said. 'Let's go.'

They nodded and the group of them rushed outside, all the books lying discarded on the ground of Juliet's living room.

'What the Hell is going on?' Hayden called out as she exited her house.

No one answered.

'Hello?' Hayden said. 'Anyone want to answer the blind woman?'

'We don't know,' Elliot said. Everyone looked around.

'What the Hell?' Kristijan asked. 'Everyone, look up.'

Shielding their eyes from the sun, everyone began to look up. Everyone apart from Hayden saw the plane.

'Do you see that?' Krist asked her.

'I'm blind,' she pointed out.

'So? Try harder?' he grinned.

'I will kill you if you don't tell me what's going on,' she said.

'There's a plane,' he said.

'A plane?'

'Breaking apart,' Gus confirmed. During his time on the island, he had never seen a plane go overhead. This plane was breaking into pieces. Three huge distinct pieces, and smaller pieces, going for three different areas. The tail of the plane. The middle. The front. They all crashed in the distance.

'Goodwin, did you see where the tail landed?' Ben asked suddenly.

'Yeah, probably in the water,' Goodwin nodded.

'If you run, you can make that shore line in an hour. Ethan, Josephine, get up there to that fuselage. There may actually be survivors; and you three are part of them. Listen, learn, and don't get involved. I want lists in 3 days. Go.'

Goodwin nodded and ran in one direction while Josie and Ethan ran in the other.

Slowly, the group dispersed, leaving just Ben, Kat, Cam and Richard.

'Why did you send Josephine?' Kat asked.

'Because Josephine can take care of herself,' Ben said. He turned to the Alpert's. 'Where is Noelani?'

'Right here,' a voice said and a second later an exotic looking woman was next to them. She had something in her arms and dried tears on her face. Richard and Cam both looked at her in concern.

'Lani,' Ben said. 'You will lead a team to the front of the plane to see if anyone survived. Take your five best. Who are they?'

'Krist, Josh, Carlos, Tom and Ryan,' she said.

'Now go,' he said.

She nodded and ran off.

'Where was she?' Ben asked the two Alpert's.

'Jacob,' they said in unison.

--

**So, yeah, this was just a teaser chapter. Next chapter we go to the airport to see the actual survivors. And the freighter people will also be seen soon. **


	4. Prologue: At the Airport

**Here's the next chapter. It takes place at the airport and on the plane. Enjoy! I don't own Lost.**

Induala Karim shiftily looked around her as she sat in a rental car out the front of the airport. She couldn't believe she was going to do this. She sighed and turned to the man sitting in the drivers' seat.

'I don't think I can do this, Mukunda,' she whispered, not from fear of being heard, but from the reality of what she was about to do.

'Indy, come on,' her brother sighed. 'He has been hurting you. You don't even love him.'

She didn't reply.

'You don't, do you?' he asked.

'No,' she said finally. 'No, I don't love him.'

'So what's the problem?'

'Why can't you come with me?' she asked.

'I don't have the money, but I'll follow as soon as I can,' he said.

'Promise?'

'Promise,' he nodded. 'Now go,' he added, passing her a boarding pass. She took it and put her bag over her shoulder.

'Thank you for this, Mukunda,' she said.

'What are brothers for?' he asked. She smiled at him and got out of the car, watching as her brother drove away. She sighed and opened the boarding pass.

'Flight 815,' she murmured to herself. 'Flight 815.'

--

'You don't have to worry, Devi,' Maya Sahin hissed into her phone in Hindi. 'I'm not going to kill him.'

'Maya, it kind of sounds like you are,' her sister answered.

'I just want to ask him why Esther did that to me,' she said, looking around her for anything suspicious.

'And I want to know why you did that to Esther,' her sister countered.

'I didn't do it, Devi! Just tell me what flight Adem is on!'

'Oceanic Flight 416. It's already left, Maya. I'm sorry.'

'Where'd it go to?'

'Los Angeles.'

'Get me a seat on the next flight.'

'Maya, this is ridiculous!'

'Get me on the next flight, Devika Sahin!' she exclaimed.

'Hold on a moment.' After a minute she spoke again. 'You got your fake ID and Passport ready, Hazan Celik?'

'What kind of question is that? Of course I do.'

'Then you better get on that plane. Oceanic Flight 815.'

'Flight 815,' she repeated. 'Thank you.'

She closed the phone and looked around her, to where the young girl was meant to be. Damn it. She wasn't there.

And as always, Maya's first thought was that her enemies had done something.

'Deniz!' she called out, suddenly filled with dread. Although, after a few seconds, her fear seemed to disappear when she saw the short Indian girl skip over.

'Yes, Aunty Maya?' the girl said.

'Remember, I said to not walk away from me while I'm talking on the phone,' she said in Hindi to the young child. She wasn't cut out for this. How could Adem do this? Just leaving Deniz with Maya. What kind of father did that?

'Okay. Sorry.' Deniz paused. 'Who were you talking to?'

'My sister.'

'Was it Aunty Esther?' she asked excitedly.

Maya pursed her lips and spoke curtly. 'No, it wasn't.'

'Aunty Ayla?'

'It was Aunty Devi,' she sighed. 'Let's go, Deniz.'

--

'There's this new thing called watching where you're walking!' Jason Littleton yelled to the girl who had just bumped into him and his younger sister.

'Oh my God, really? Maybe you should try it then!' the girl, whose name happened to be Laura, yelled back.

He opened his mouth to furiously respond, but Claire stopped him.

'Jason, you don't always have to get into a fight,' she sighed.

'She was being a bitch, Claire,' he argued. 'You're eight months pregnant.'

'But not invalid.'

He rolled his eyes at her. 'So, why are we listening to this psychic again?'

'_I'm_ listening to the psychic, not you.'

'But why?'

She sighed. 'You wouldn't understand, Jase.'

"_Oceanic Flight 815 to Los Angeles is now boarding. Please start making your way to the gate within the next few minutes."_

--

'There's this new thing called watching where you're walking!'

'Oh my God, really? Maybe you should try it then!' FBI Special Agent Laura Britt yelled to the man. 'What an asshole,' she muttered quietly.

'Amazingly enough Laura, we don't have to fight with everyone we speak to in this country,' FBI Special Agent Jennifer Poesy said patiently from next to her.

'I could just shoot him,' she muttered.

'And that wouldn't get us anywhere, but behind bars.'

'We could say it was an accident.'

'What, your finger slipped on the trigger?'

'That could work.'

--

The attendant looked from the passport in her hand to the teenage boy in front of her. She did so again. And again.

'I fell down stairs,' Elijah Miller sighed. He knew that she was wondering about the black eyes.

'Of course, sir,' she said, handing back his passport. He nodded in thanks and started walking down the Jetway to the plane. He didn't see the small step and tripped, grabbing onto the nearest thing to stop him from falling. Unfortunately for him and the girl he had grabbed, she wasn't prepared for that, and they both topple over.

'Oh-my-god-I-am-so-sorry!' the girls' words sort of came out as one as she stood up and held out her hand and helped to pull Elijah up.

'No, it was my fault,' he said.

'All the same, I'm sorry…'

'Eli. Well, Elijah, but everyone calls me Eli,' he said.

'Nice to meet you Eli. My name's Erin,' she said.

'Hi,' he smiled at her.

--

'Akilina!' a Russian man called sternly to a teenage girl. 'Stay in our sight!' he added in Russian.

The girl nodded as the man walked forward to check in.

'Don't worry about Petro, Lina,' a boy a few years older than the Russian girl said to her in their mother tongue. 'He's insane.'

'But we have to listen to him, Luka,' Akilina softly said in Russian to him.

'It's stupid, Lina,' Luka said. 'He's not even my father. He won't even let his own daughter learn English, for God's sake!' he said the last part in English, thinking he knew his step-sisters secret.

'I have no idea what you just said, but whatever it was, I don't care! I can take care of myself, Luka!' she exclaimed in Russian. Luka smirked. She was good.

At that moment the conversation was cut short when Petro walked back over. 'Akilina,' he said to his daughter in Russian. 'Your seat is in the back of the plane. Luka, yours is in Economy.'

'And let me guess, Petro,' Luka said. 'Yours is in first class! Total coincidence, right?'

'No, mine is in business.'

'You know, most people would get three seats together,' Luka said.

'Luka,' Akilina said. 'Please, stop.'

'You should listen to your sister, Luka,' Petro said in English. 'Or who knows what will happen?' he added as he began to walk away.

Luka followed him, ignoring the meaning that was hidden beneath what he said. Akilina followed, her face paling a bit as she did so.

--

A man leaned against the wall, amazed by his surroundings. How was he here? It didn't make any sense. He looked around him once more and was even more shocked then he had been. Did he really just see who he thought he did?

Without any other thought in mind, Jay LaFleur followed the man.

--

An Asian woman rushed to gate 23, seeing that it was just closing.

'Please! Stop!' she yelled out.

The attendant looked at her. 'I'm sorry Ma'am, the Jetway is closed,' she said.

'I need to get on that flight!' she exclaimed angrily, passing her boarding pass over.

'I'm sorry, you can't,' the woman said.

'I need to get on that plane!' a voice yelled from behind them. The two of them looked to see a heavyset man approach.

'The jetway is closed, Miss Sung,' the woman said, checking the pass to make sure the name was right.

'I'll pay cash,' the heavyset man said, pulling out his wallet and passing over money.

The woman sighed. 'Fine. You can come on, sir.'

The man gave a sideway glance to the Asian woman, who looked like she was ready to murder someone.

'Uhh… also my friend here,' he said, gesturing to the Asian woman. The other woman nodded reluctantly and opened the Jetway for them. The two nodded in thanks and went through.

'Gamsahamnida,' the Asian woman bowed her head at him. 'Thank you,' she added.

'No problem, dude. I'm Hurley,' he said.

'Hello, Hurley. My name is Yoon-Cha.'

'Nice to meet you, Yoon-Cha,' he said.

'You can just call me Yoon,' she smiled as they got onto the plane. She smiled at him again and found her seat, next to a short man. He completely ignored her.

She noticed how he looked a bit familiar, but maybe he just lived in Sydney. She turned so she was facing the front.

She placed a hand on her stomach and murmured quietly in her native tongue.

'I guess it's just you and me now, baby.'

--

Constance Phillips poked her head out into the aisle, looking at the Southern man sitting in economy. God, she hated the man. He would pay. He would get what he deserved in the end. She'd make sure of it.

At that moment someone tapped her on her shoulder.

Turning around, she saw a woman with piercing blue eyes, long blonde hair, several tattoos showing, and outlandish clothing.

'Yes?' Constance said to her.

'Hi, I think I'm in the seat next to you,' the girl said. Constance stood up to let the girl through before she sat back down.

'What's your name?' the girl asked her.

'Constance,' she said.

'Oh, I love that name! I'm Roxy. Well, Roxanne. Well, actually, it's Rosanna, but seriously, what was my mother thinking? I hate it. So I changed my name to Roxanne and now I'm known as Roxy to, like, everyone,' the girl rambled on.

Constance smiled slightly at the energetic girl. Hopefully her mind would be taken off the Southern Jackass in Economy.

--

Liliana had to hand it to her. Michelle really did live up to her word. She had told Liliana that they would talk when they got home, and, true to her word, she hadn't spoken to her since. And Liliana was sick of it.

'Michelle, please talk to me,' she almost begged.

Michelle moved her hand slightly, and it looked like she was moving it closer to Liliana. She wasn't though. She just turned up her music.

'Munyemo, please,' Liliana said.

At that moment Michelle turned to her and Liliana finally got the meaning of the phrase "if looks could kill".

She sighed. She guessed she'd try again later.

--

Jack Shephard walked down the aisle of the plane, trying to find 23B. When he finally did locate it, he saw that a young brunette had the seat next to him. He sat down, trying not to disturb the girl who was listening to music, tapping her finger on the arm rest to the beat of the song. Jack was surprised. He actually recognized the song.

The teenage girl looked at him and took off her headphones. 'I can stop if you find it annoying,' she said.

'No, it's okay,' Jack assured her. 'I just haven't heard that song in awhile.'

'You know this song?' she asked in surprise.

'Yeah,' he nodded.

'Who sings it then?' she asked, smiling at him.

'Tanya Harrier from No Fury. She's the lead singer of the band she formed with her friends Casey, Ellis, Ruby and Hayden. The band was formed eight years ago but they haven't been playing for two and a half years, because Hayden went missing. Should I continue?' he asked.

'How did you know all that?' the girl asked in amazement.

'I just do,' he shrugged. He knew all that because he had been one of the first people to hear them play. He had been there when they got a recording contract. He had been there when their first album made gold. He had been there when Hayden got a job in Portland and promised to back for his wedding. He had been there when she broke that promise.

He knew all that because Hayden was his sister.

--

Serena Ashling clenched the side of her seat a few hours later when she felt some turbulence hit. She had always been a bad flyer.

'It will pass over,' an older man across the aisle said to her.

'I know,' she said. 'I'm just not a good flyer.'

'The trick is to think about something else. What's your name?'

'Serena,' she said. 'What's yours?'

'I'm Nicanor. You can call me Nic, though,' he said. 'Why are you travelling?'

'I decided to move back to the USA. What about you?'

'I'm returning home. What's your job?'

'I'm a… salesperson,' she said finally. 'You?'

'Chef,' he said.

At that moment they hit some more turbulence.

The two looked at each other.

'It will pass over,' they said in unison.

--

Aryel closed her eyes and took a deep breath as they hit more turbulence.

'It will be okay,' a man across the aisle said to her.

'How do you know that?' she shot back.

The man smiled at her. 'I don't. But I'm fairly certain. My name's Max.'

'Why are you telling me this?' she asked.

'I've read some of your books, Miss Demaree. You're good.'

'I am not giving you an autograph. I am on vacation. Doesn't anyone know what that means?' she snapped. Okay, so she lied. She wasn't on vacation. She was working on a book in Sydney, and she had to bail an old friend out of jail. She had trespassed again. But nevertheless, regardless of whether she was on vacation or not, she was not going to put up with annoying people.

--

Near the back of the plane, Ashley Harrison crossed her arms over her chest as she felt more turbulence. This is what she got for getting a seat in the tail. "Right where the wheels come out under your feet", she had heard a Latina tell a man at the airport bar.

'Do you think it will pass?' a young boy asked her.

'You scared?' she asked.

'No,' he shook his head, although it was obvious he was scared, even if it wasn't much.

'Damien, stop talking to strangers,' the girl next to him scolded.

'I think it will stop, kid,' a man said leaning across Ashley to speak to the boy.

'Do you mind?' Ashley asked him.

'I just trying to reassure him,' the man said to her. 'Lighten up. My name's Dom.'

'So?' she asked.

--

Oz Geller stood up to go to the bathroom, but at that moment a man with shaggy blonde hair rushed past.

'Excuse me,' the man said.

Oz sat back down.

'Guess he really had to go,' Deniz said across the aisle softly.

'Den,' Maya said from next to her. 'Your father would kill me if he found out I let you talk to strangers,' she looked at Oz. 'no offence.'

'None taken,' he said.

'Hey… weren't you that bassist from that band? What was it?'

'Twice Shy,' he confirmed.

'You guys were good.'

'Thanks,' he said.

--

Roxy was in the business section of the plane when it began shaking worse than before. She grabbed a chair next to her and held on as she regained her balance. She slowly, with shaking legs, started moving through the plane, to her seat.

At that moment the tail of the plane was ripped from the rest of it and Roxy hit the roof of the plane before falling unconscious, and soon after she went out the back of the plane.

--

**The chapters will get longer, by the way.**


	5. Author's Note

**This might seem really, really, really weird, but I'm planning out chapters by episodes, and who gets which chapter, and I want to know what chapters (episodes) you guys think each of your characters will do well with. What I mean is, certain OCs have certain things in their pasts that will go well with certain episodes. Have a good think about it.**

**So all I need is this filled in, it's to do with this, and another thing:**

**First episode preference:**

**Second episode preference:**

**Third episode preference:**

**OC pairing preference (if you want):**

**This will really help me in the long run, even though it probably seems weird now.**

**Thanks!**


	6. You're gonna be the one that saves me

**Here's the next chapter. Enjoy! I don't own Lost.**

**First though, a note to Cbing: I'm going with Nemo because I've already got the other names. Thanks!**

**On with the story:**

**Moscow, Russia.**

**Several hours into Oceanic Flight 815.**

Blood. Pain. Anger. Sadness. Maya. Deniz. Adem. Esther.

An Indian woman bolted upright in her bed, a cold sweat broken out on her face. She sat up in her bed and looked around her, processing her dream.

She knew Maya was with Deniz, both of them heading to see Adem. But how did Esther come into this?

Maybe Esther was with Adem.

If this was the worst possible scenario.

Which, knowing her luck it was.

She had to get to Los Angeles.

--

**On island, several minutes after the crash.**

'I said maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me.'

Gus heard the song as he walked into one of the houses at the Barracks. The person singing the song was also playing guitar along with it as she laid on her back, on the couch.

'And after all, you're my wonderwall,' Hayden continued singing as she played. 'what do you want, Gus?' she asked as she put down her guitar.

'an interesting sixth sense you have, Hayden,' Gus said, walking over.

'fifth sense,' she corrected, standing up.

'why is it you always stop playing when someone walks in?' Gus asked, following her.

'I don't always stop playing,' she argued.

'name one time you didn't,' he said.

'I was in a band. Think about it. and while you're thinking about it, stop being my damn psychologist.'

'it's my job,' he said. 'I know you've been on this island for two years, today, Hayden. And I know you hate it.'

'don't you?'

'no. I don't.'

'and this is why we'll never work out in the long run,' she sighed.

'because you hate authority and this island?'

'because I hate Benjamin Linus. And I will kill him one day.'

'violent tendencies…' he murmured. 'should I add that to my psychological profile of you?'

She lightly hit his arm. 'do it, and I'll kill you.'

'seems like it's a danger. So I should add it,' he said. 'you're homicidal.'

'and another reason we won't work out in the long run. you think I'm homicidal.'

'but maybe because you're homicidal is just another reason I love you,' he said. She stepped closer to him.

'maybe the fact that you think I'm homicidal is just another reason I love you too,' she said. He smiled at her and leaned down to kiss her.

--

'Walt!'

'Claire!'

'Jenny!'

'Lina!'

'Deniz!'

'Liliana!'

Roxanne's eyes suddenly opened and she rolled onto her side and threw up water, not even noticing the hand patting her back.

'you're okay,' a man said to her.

'what happened?' she asked. 'who are you?'

'we crashed,' he said. 'you were in the water.'

'we crashed? Oh my God.'

'yeah, I know. It's pretty full on.'

'yeah… I didn't quite catch your name,' she said, looking at the wreckage all around the two of them.

'I'm Boone. And you?'

Roxy continued to look around as she answered. 'Roxy,' she said shortly before jumping up.

'you need to rest!' Boone exclaimed. 'you almost drowned!'

'so?' she said as she ran over to a woman heading in the same direction. 'Ary! Aryel Demaree!'

The girl suddenly stopped and turned around. 'Roxy? What the fuck?'

'it would seem that we were in the same plane crash,' Roxy said. 'only speculation though.'

--

_Come on, come on, come on!_

The words went through Constance's head every time she breathed air in the pale girl. Whether the girl was naturally pale, or she was already losing her color to death, Constance didn't know.

Constance pressed down on the girl's chest, until finally she coughed up water and turned on her side.

'you're okay,' Constance soothed, patting the girl's back. 'you're okay.'

The girl started gasping for air before rambling on in a language Constance did not understand.

'I'm sorry, I don't understand,' she confessed.

The girl stopped rambling on and turned to her properly. 'Los…Angeles?' she asked hesitantly.

Constance shook her head, feeling there was no need for words.

--

'hey!' Petro yelled to a few people. 'come over here and give me a hand!'

Max, Locke, Laura and Oz all came over to where Petro was standing next to a woman trapped underneath some metal.

'oh, shit!' Laura exclaimed when she saw the woman. 'Jenny!'

'you know this woman?' Max asked.

'obviously,' Oz said dryly as they all held part of the metal.

'on three we all lift,' Petro said. 'and this woman-' he pointed to Laura. '-will pull out her friend. Got it?' they nodded. 'one. two. Three.'

At that moment the four men picked up the metal and Laura pulled out Jennifer.

Laura held her friend.

'Laura?' Jennifer said groggily.

'it's gonna be okay, Jen,' Laura soothed. 'I know it will.'

--

'have you seen a heavily pregnant girl?' Jason asked frantically to two men that were just standing there, one of them looking disinterested.

'huh?' Charlie asked.

'blonde, Australian pregnant girl,' Jason said impatiently. 'she's not that hard to miss, Mate. Heavily pregnant.'

'no, sorry,' he said.

'would that be her over there?' Luka asked, pointing.

The other two men looked to see a heavily pregnant blonde woman panting and clutching her stomach with a young brunette next to her, as if she was trying to reassure her.

'oh shit,' Jason said as he began to run over there.

--

'calm down,' Erica instructed the panicky pregnant girl. 'you shouldn't panic.'

'I hate to be a bitch,' Aryel paused. 'well, no, I don't. but my point is, she's in labor. She wants to panic. She's giving birth. So she has the right to panic.'

Erica was beginning to dislike the woman.

'I can't give birth here!' the pregnant girl panicked. 'I'm not even eight months pregnant! I can't give birth here!'

'you won't,' Erica assured her.

'you will,' Aryel nodded. Erica shot her a dirty look.

'Claire!' Jason yelled, running across the beach, nearly tripping over, and collapsing right next to his younger sister and taking her hand. 'are you okay?'

'obviously not, genius,' Aryel said. 'she's in labor.'

'she's not even eight months pregnant,' he said.

'I'm pretty sure it's called premature,' she said snarky.

'I'm pretty sure it's called stop being a bitch,' Jason shot back.

'Jase!' Claire exclaimed, clutching her stomach as she got another contraction.

'I need a doctor!' Jason yelled out extremely loudly. 'you're gonna be okay, Claire,' he reassured her in a quieter voice.

At that moment a man who was wearing a suit ran over to them, kneeling down next to Claire.

'what's wrong?' he asked.

'I'm-I'm having contractions,' Claire said.

'how far apart?' an Asian woman asked, also kneeling down next to them. Jason noticed that she was pregnant too.

'Umm… I don't know. They're just happening.'

'You're going to be okay, do you understand me? But you have to sit absolutely still!' the man said.

He turned his head, looking for another person to help. 'hey! You!' he pointed to a heavyset man.

'Hurley!' the Asian woman yelled out to the man. The man turned. 'get over here!'

He walked over and Jack turned to the others, noticing that Aryel had left. 'you need to get her away from these fumes. Stay with her. If her contractions occur any closer than three minutes apart, call out for me, or-' he turned to the Asian woman. 'are you a doctor?'

'yes,' she nodded.

'or call out to her,' he informed the rest of them. 'okay?'

'thank you,' Claire said. Jack nodded and started running off.

'Hey! What's your name?' Jason called out.

'Jack!' he yelled over his shoulder.

'and you?' he asked the Asian woman.

'Yoon,' she said before running away.

--

In the jungle, Lani led the five men to the cockpit of the plane, trying to forget everything Jacob had told her. She couldn't be distracted. Not now. It could cost one of them their lives. Just like how, almost two hundred years ago, she had been distracted and careless, thus ending her life of happiness in Hawaii.

'do you actually think there will be any survivors?' Lani heard Carlos ask Krist.

'maybe. They'd be in pretty bad shape, though,' Krist answered. Lani whirled around.

'shut up!' she hissed angrily.

'whoa, calm down,' Carlos said, surprised at how angry she was.

''calm down'?' she hissed. 'if you keep talking and being careless, it could cost us our lives. So shut up, Carlos.'

'to be fair, I wasn't the only one speaking,' he said.

'I swear to whatever God there is that I will kill you if you don't shut up,' she said in a dangerously low voice. 'not that there is a God,' she added, knowing how religious Carlos was.

'hey!' he began.

'shut the Hell up, Sanz,' she hissed, shooting him a deathly glare. He held up his hands in defeat. 'let's keep going,' she said.

They all silently followed the Hawaiian woman through the jungle, wondering what it was that had her so short tempered.

--

Leonard Krill sat on the beach, looking at the people around him. Amazingly, there were actually quite a lot of people, twenty, maybe thirty. He saw a woman sitting by two children. He saw a pale teenager sitting by herself, her arms around her legs. Two teenagers sitting beside each other, talking quietly. A young red head – maybe still a teenager – walking around, holding the hand of a young red head girl.

'Mum! Lucy!' she called out, although the fight had obviously left her already.

An older man sat down next to a younger woman.

--

'it didn't pass over,' Nic said, sitting down next to Serena.

'how does it feel to be wrong?' Serena shot back.

Nic smiled slightly.

--

'mum! Lucy!'

Dominic turned and looked at the beautiful girl pityingly. The people she was calling out for were probably dead.

'I can help you look, if you want,' he offered anyway.

The girl threw him a smile and answered. 'it's okay. I'm doing it for her sake,' she pointed to a young girl. 'you see, my mum and other sister were at the front. There's no hope, but Mindy thinks there is.'

'Mindy?' Dominic asked.

'my sister. Melinda.'

'oh, right. My name's Dominic by the way. Call me Dom.'

'Hi, Dom. I'm Felicity. Call me Flick.'

'Hi Flick.'

--

Yoon walked through the jungle, although not that far in, trying to get away from it all.

'hey,' she heard. Her head snapped up and she saw the man who had been sitting next to her on the plane was sitting there, his shirt off.

'what?' she asked.

'do you think you could stitch this up?' he gestured to the huge cut on his back. 'I'm only asking because I heard you say you were a doctor.'

'sure,' she murmured, walking closer and sitting down next to him. 'what's your name?'

'Sammy,' he said. 'you?' he asked, although he already knew who she was. He had seen her at that man's house in Sydney.

'Yoon-Cha. Everyone calls me Yoon, though.'

'nice to meet you,' he smiled at her. She smiled weakly back.

All of a sudden her smile grew huge.

'what?' Sammy asked.

She placed one hand on her stomach. 'she's alive,' she said softly.

'what?' he asked, confused.

'you may not have noticed, but I'm pregnant, and my baby moved for the first time since the crash,' she explained.

'well, that's great, I guess,' he said as she continued working on his cut. He closed his eyes, realizing what he had done to this woman and her baby.

--

Michelle dropped to the ground in defeat. She couldn't find Liliana. No one had seen her. Her wife was dead. As the reality hit her, she started crying.

And she didn't stop.

--

_Dead. dead. dead._

Krist repeated the word over and over in his head as he felt for pulses on the passengers of the plane.

_Dead. dead. dead. dead. alive. Dead. wait…alive?_

'Lani,' he whispered, knowing the woman with the sharp ears would hear. She jumped over seats, dead bodies and debris and crouched next to the woman.

'alive?' she breathed.

'yeah,' Krist said.

Lani nodded. 'good job,' she said as she reached into the woman's jacket pocket to find some sort of identity. She couldn't find any.

'Carlos,' Lani whispered.

The man didn't reply.

'bloody Hell,' Lani muttered, jumping over the seats the way she had come and over to the man. 'Carlos!' she hissed.

'what?' he asked.

'we found someone. You take her back, we'll keep looking,' she said.

'okay,' he said, following her back to the woman. 'wow, she's beautiful.'

'just take her back,' Lani ordered. Carlos nodded and picked the unknown woman up before leaving the cockpit.

Ten minutes of silence passed before Lani spoke.

'have we checked everyone?' she asked.

'everyone,' Krist nodded in the affirmative. 'they're all dead.'

'wait!' Tom exclaimed quietly. 'this woman's alive,' he said, gesturing to a red head woman.

'pick her up, and let's get going,' she said, beginning to leave the cockpit.

--

Josephine smiled to herself when she saw what was in front of her.

The manifest.

She opened it and quickly scanned the names for something that sounded remotely like her own name. Josette Smithson. Josefina Williams. Josslyn Addams.

Josephine Morel was now Josefina Williams, she decided.

She contemplated giving the manifest to Ethan.

On second thoughts…

She threw it back on the ground.

--

'where the Hell is she?' Luka hissed to Petro in Russian later that night as they stood near the edge of the jungle. 'where is she?'

'I don't know, Luka!' Petro exclaimed. 'probably dead.'

'glad to see that you're not going to lose any sleep over your daughter being dead!'

'oh, shut up,' Petro snapped. 'I do care about Akilina.'

'then why do you scare the Hell out of her?'

'I…I don't know.'

'bull shit,' he spat before walking away angrily.

--

At the Tail crash site, everyone sat around the fire.

'We're gonna be okay, aren't we?' Damien asked his sister.

'of course,' Erin said.

Across the fire Felicity coughed. 'yeah, whatever.'

'come on, Flickster,' Dom grinned. 'play nice.'

'don't call me that, Dominoes,' she snapped back.

'we will be okay,' Layla Morgan said to them all, interrupting the argument between the two.

'I agree,' Libby said. 'as long as we all stick together.'

--

'they're going to come,' Eli said confidently. 'they will. I know they will.'

'who you trying to convince there, Carrot Top?' Aryel asked.

'Ary,' Roxy said. 'peace and love, babe. Peace and love.'

'they will come,' Charlie nodded.

'I actually doubt it,' Yoon said, placing a hand on her stomach. She suddenly perked up as she saw something. Or rather someone. 'I'll be back,' she said before jumping up and running over to someone.

'Sun!' Yoon called out. the Asian woman turned around and smiled at Yoon.

'Yoon? What are you doing here?' Sun asked her in Korean as the two women hugged.

'well, little sis,' Yoon said. 'I was in a plane crash. Fancy that.'

Sun laughed lightly. 'why were you on that plane?'

Yoon's smile faded and she swallowed back tears. 'travelling.'

'Yoon, what's wrong?'

'Ryan's dead,' she said. 'I'm pregnant, and my life has fallen apart.'

'I'm sorry about Ryan,' Sun said. 'but congratulations about your pregnancy.'

'Sun!'

The two of them turned to see Jin running over.

'Sun, I told you to stay close to me,' Jin told her in Korean.

'Jin, she's my sister,' Yoon said. 'I'm not going to let anything happen to her. We're fine. Go back to whatever rock you came out from,' she added the last line in English. She hadn't always hated Jin. But she had since she found out how he had been treating Sun, her sister.

Slowly, to his credit, Jin nodded. 'okay, Yoon-Cha. Make sure nothing happens to her,' he said before walking away.

The two watched as he did so.

'so how long have you spoken English for, Sun?' Yoon asked in English.

--

'I didn't see him on the flight,' Erica said, looking over Jack's shoulder at the unconscious man. The man had gotten some burns.

'neither did I,' Jack said, looking at her. 'but maybe he was in the back,' he added as he looked through the man's pockets.

'what are you doing?' a woman asked, and the two looked up to see a brunette woman.

'trying to find some sort of ID,' Jack explained to her before producing a drivers license from the man's wallet. 'his name's James La… something. It's been burnt.'

Erica looked at the man sadly and sighed.

--

'damn it,' Josie muttered. She had not had the chance to smoke in ages. Over a year. And she had found a packet of cigarettes and a lighter, but, of course, the lighter wasn't working.

'need a light?' a voice asked from behind her.

She turned around to see a tall teenage boy with shaggy black hair and a general "I don't give a damn" attitude.

'sure,' she said. He leaned forward and lit her cigarette before lighting his own.

'what's your name?' he asked.

'Josie,' she said. 'you?'

'Luka,' he smiled at her. Well, it was more like the sides of his mouth moved a fraction, but it was the best smile she had been given in a long time. 'so, did you black out, or what?' he asked her.

'what?' she asked, genuinely confused.

'when the plane crashed.'

'yeah,' she nodded, lying naturally. 'you?'

'I saw the whole thing,' he said. 'the tail came off, and then the front. The screaming was unbearable.'

At that moment there was metal sound coming from the jungle, almost as if it was a high pitch screech.

'what was that?' Luka asked, standing up and looking towards the jungle. Everyone else did the same.

The noise continued.

'That was weird, right?' Charlie asked, looking around nervously.

'this place kind of looks like that island on Jurassic Park, doesn't it?' Max asked.

'whoa, dude,' Hurley said. 'just stop there.'

'Jurassic Park wasn't real,' Eli said before pausing. '…was it?'

'no, it wasn't, you idiots,' Ary said, rolling her eyes.

They kept looking and saw some trees fall down.

'Did anybody see that?' Claire asked, Jason right behind her.

'Yeah,' Hurley said in disbelief.

'not hard to miss, Sunshine,' Luka said dryly.

'this is terrific,' Charlie muttered.

**--**

At the Tail crash site, everyone was around the fire, sleeping.

Kallirroe Mellas's eyes snapped open as someone grabbed her.

'what the Hell?' she exclaimed. 'let go!'

she took a good look at the person, an older blonde woman. The woman put a hand of Kallirroe's mouth, in an attempt to silence her. Kallirroe bit the woman's hand.

the woman elbowed her in the face, knocking her out in the process.

by that point several people began running over. the blonde woman dragged Kallirroe off into the jungle, watching as two men did the same to two other people.

'around the fire!' Jonas Clark yelled to the remaining people. 'is everybody here?'

'obviously not,' Constance asked.

'the girl that doesn't speak English?' he asked, looking around and not seeing her.

'she's over there,' Layla said, pointing to the Russian girl.

'look, Kallirroe, the curly-haired guy, and the German who was helping us with the injured are all gone,' Nathan said. 'that's all.'

'Who are these people?' Erin asked softly.

'like we have any idea,' Felicity said.

'They're out here in the jungle with no shoes, nothing in their pockets, no labels on their clothes,' Ana Lucia said. 'do you know what that means?'

'These people were here before us,' Constance said when no one answered.

'We need to get off the beach. We need to find a safer place,' a man that Jonas remembered was introduced as Lucian said.

'We've got kids and people that are seriously hurt. Where are we going to go?' Nic asked.

'And what about the signal fire?' Nathan agreed. 'How are we going to get rescued if we're off the beach?'

'They have satellites - the black box - we don't need a fire for them to find us,' Ana Lucia said.

'Yes, we do,' Cindy, a flight attendant, spoke up. 'Before the crash, the pilot said we'd lost communication; we were turning back. We were flying for two hours in the wrong direction. They don't know where to look.'

They all looked at each other in shock.

**--**

Kat, Joshua and Carlos carried the three people through the jungle.

'she bit me,' Kat announced quietly to them.

'what?' Carlos laughed.

'she bit my hand. So I knocked her out,' she said.

'nice,' Joshua said.

--

'they're doing what?' Max asked the group at large the next morning.

'going to the cockpit,' Sammy said, somewhat disinterested.

'So, I was just looking inside the fuselage… It's pretty grim in there,' Hurley said, shooting a glance at Walt and Deniz. 'You think we should do something about the… b-o-d-y-s?'

'What are you spelling, man? "Bodies"?' Michael asked.

'feeble attempt,' Maya said.

'B-o-d-i-e-s,' Walt and Deniz said in unison, neither of them looking up.

'That sounds like a good idea,' Sayid said.

'No! They'll deal with it when they get here,' Laura exclaimed.

'and when will that be, Princess?' Maya asked.

'in a few hours,' she said, ignoring the nickname bestowed upon her.

'whatever. Look, I'm going to go find some fruit in the jungle, for later.'

'they'll be here soon,' Shannon said. 'it doesn't matter.'

'look, Beauty Queen,' Yoon said. 'we have to prepare ourselves for the worst possible scenario that can possibly happen. Anyone got examples?' she asked the rest of the group.

'Lord of the flies,' Charlie said.

'another holocaust,' Maya added.

'the end of the world,' Sammy said.

'you lot are so depressing,' Roxy commented. 'we're all going to be fine.'

'no,' Maya and Yoon said at the same time. 'we're realists.'

'see that man over there?' Yoon added, pointing to the man with burns, the man they only knew as James. 'he probably won't survive tomorrow, unless he gets to a hospital. The man with the shrapnel in him, same thing. Sammy's wound could get infected if we don't keep an eye on it. people are dead. so don't say we're going to be fine.'

At that moment Jack walked over and kneeled down to talk to them.

'We're going out to look for the cockpit,' he said. 'See if we can find a transceiver, to send a distress signal, help the rescue team.' He turned to Yoon. 'You're going to need to keep an eye on the wounded. If the guy in the suit wakes up, try to keep him calm, but don't let him remove that piece of shrapnel. You understand?'

'I'm a doctor too, Jack,' she rolled her eyes.

'and look after yourself too, okay?' he added, looking at her belly.

'I'm seven and a half months pregnant, Jack. I'm fine,' she said as she placed a hand on her stomach.

'I'll come with you,' Charlie announced to Jack.

'I don't need any more help,' Jack said.

'No, it's cool, I don't really feel like standing still, so…' Jack sighed and nodded. 'Excellent.'

'I'll come too,' Erica spoke up.

Jack sighed and turned to her. 'Erica-'

'I wanna come, Jack,' she interrupted. 'please.'

Slowly, he nodded. 'fine.'

--

'ten bucks says she chokes and we see her again in a week, if that,' a girl said laying in the back in the grass in the Barracks.

'cut her some slack, Scar,' Peter said.

Her name was slightly ironic, although Scarlett was her given name, and Scar was just her nickname. It was ironic because a portion of her face _was _indeed scarred; from just under her left eye down to her mouth there were a series of scars surrounding one going the entire length.

'yeah, Josie will be fine,' Alex said. 'she can look after herself.'

At that moment Cam walked over.

'you lot seen Kristijan?' Cam asked.

'no,' Rachel said. 'why?'

'I need to talk to him about him keeping Carlos in line when around Lani,' Cam said. 'she almost killed him earlier.'

'is she okay?' Scar asked, concerned for Lani.

'you don't need to worry, Scarlett,' Cam said briskly before walking towards the house Richard and Lani lived in.

--

Jack, Kate, Erica, Oz and Charlie walked through the valley.

'can I ask you two something?' Kate asked Charlie and Oz.

'of course,' Oz said.

'go ahead,' Charlie said.

'Have we ever met, anywhere?' Kate asked.

'I don't think so,' Oz said.

'but we look familiar, though, right?' Charlie added.

'Yeah…' Kate said.

'Can't quite place it?'

'No, I can't.'

'Yeah. I think I know.'

Oz rolled his eyes.

'I think I do too,' Erica spoke up.

'You do?' the other three asked in surprise.

'uh huh,' she said. Just because she was young, didn't mean she was clueless. 'Charlie Pace, bassist of DriveShaft. Oz Geller, bassist of Twice Shy.'

'what?' Kate asked.

'you know us?' Charlie and Oz said in unison to Erica.

'well, obviously,' Erica rolled her eyes. 'I've got every single one of your albums.'

'seriously?' Oz said.

'seriously.'

'hey!' Jack called out to them. 'We've got to keep moving.'

'They were good,' Kate said to Charlie and Oz.

'We're still together,' Charlie said.

'oh, and Kate?' Erica said. 'Jack knows of No Fury. Seems like he's a fan.'

'you're a fan?' Kate asked Jack.

'you know Tanya, Ruby, Ellis, Casey and Hayden?' Charlie and Oz said in unison.

'Hayden's my sister,' Jack said shortly. 'so, yeah, I know them.'

'Hayden Shephard is your sister?' Oz asked. 'she's one Hell of a guitarist.'

'let's keep going,' Jack said, just as it started raining suddenly.

'Hey guys, is this normal?' Charlie asked. 'Kind of… day turning into night, you know? End of the world type weather. Is this—guys?'

--

Lani stared at the tattered pages in front of her. She had wrote this. Almost one hundred and eighty years ago, she had written this. But she didn't remember. Why didn't she remember? Why didn't Jacob tell her that?

God, why had he even given her this mammoth of a memoir?

She never wanted this.

Did she?

--

Jack, Kate, Charlie, Erica and Oz stood outside the cockpit.

'Well,' Jack said. 'Let's do this.'

**--**

The group of them started making their way to the wreckage.

'Let's get this transceiver thing and get out of here,' Charlie said.

'I second that,' Erica said.

They entered the plane and started climbing, looking around themselves at the dead bodies and debris around them.

'this is horrible,' Erica said softly.

'yeah,' Kate said as Jack got into the cockpit. He turned around and pulled Kate and then Oz up.

Erica looked around her at the bodies and shivered. What if someone in here was alive apart from them?

'uh, do you guys think that some of these people might be alive?' she yelled to them.

'maybe,' Oz said. 'the pilot's alive and he has the transceiver.'

'awesome!'

Oz jumped down from the cockpit, almost knocking Erica over.

'what the Hell?' Erica exclaimed, jumping back.

'sorry,' he apologized. 'I came to help you.'

'thanks,' Erica said. The two started moving around the plane, checking for pulses. There was so much gore, so much death. It kind of scared Erica.

'Erica?' Oz said. 'I think this young girl is alive.'

Erica climbed over the seats to see a young girl with flaming red hair.

'you seen any others are alive?' Oz asked.

'no,' she said. 'just her.'

Oz nodded and picked up the young girl who had a long cut across her face.

'poor girl,' Erica said, looking at her.

The plane started shaking, and they heard the metallic high pitch screech.

Oz and Erica looked at each other.

'wh-where's Charlie?' Erica asked.

At that moment, Charlie stumbled out of the bathroom.

'what were you doing in there?' Erica said.

'was that what I think it was?' Charlie asked at the same time.

'it's right outside,' Erica heard Kate say.

'what's outside?' the pilot asked, looking out the window.

Out of nowhere a shadow passed the window and pulled the pilot up, spraying blood onto the window in the process.

'What the Hell just happened?' Charlie asked, just as the plane shook even more, and fell from the inclined position. Jack quickly grabbed the transceiver.

'let's go!' Jack yelled.

Erica didn't need to be told twice. She ran out of the plane, Oz with the young girl in his arms right behind her.

Without looking back, Erica ran, Oz and Charlie right next to her.

After several minutes of nonstop running, Erica, Charlie and Oz stopped.

'you okay?' Oz asked her.

'yeah,' he panted. 'you?'

'uh huh. The girl?'

'I think so,' he said.

'Erica? Oz? Charlie?'

The three turned and saw Kate there.

'Where the Hell is Jack?' she demanded.

'I don't know!' Charlie exclaimed.

'How can you not know?'

'We got separated!'

'We have to go back for him.'

'Go back?' Oz asked. 'I don't think that's a good idea.'

'then I'll just find him by myself,' she said.

'uh… guys?' Erica said, a queasy look on her face. 'What is _that_?'

They all began looking up to where she was pointing.

There was a huge bloody mess, in the trees.

'What is…?' Charlie asked.

'It's the pilot,' Jack said, walking out of the jungle behind them.

'How does something like that happen?' Charlie asked, still looking at the pilot.

'more to the point, where the Hell are we?' Erica asked.

--

The Indian woman walked down a hallway of a building in Los Angeles, angry as all Hell. She knocked on the door of apartment 23, and waited impatiently. The door opened, to reveal an Indian man standing there.

'Devika?' he asked. 'what-'

He was cut off when the woman lunged forward and punched him, slamming the door shut behind her as the man got knocked back.

'what-' the man tried again.

'no! don't speak,' she hissed, pushing him against the wall in a vice like grip, as she grabbed the television remote and turned on the television.

'…The plane in question, Oceanic Flight 815, has been missing for hours, and presumably crashed,' the news reporter said.

'why is this important?' the man asked the woman.

'you want to know why it's important, Adem?' she laughed bitterly. 'Maya saw you.'

'what?' he asked, genuinely confused.

'Maya, my sister, the woman who is looking after our daughter, saw you in Sydney,' she said.

'so?'

'so she called me and asked what flight you went on. I told her, and she got a seat on the next flight, as well as Deniz. Guess what flight that was?'

'not…?' he trailed off.

'yes. Oceanic Flight 815,' she said, still holding him against the wall. 'six years ago your actions caused Amala to die. four years ago Esther left because of what you did to her. Two years ago you cheated on me. see the pattern here? everything you do screws up our lives. So I'm making sure it never will again,' she said, taking her gun out.

'Devi, please-' he began.

She cut him off by putting the gun to his chest and shooting him.

He slid down the wall, blood smearing the wall.

'I…would have…never……hurt you…this way,' he murmured.

'you already have,' she said softly before leaving the room.

--

**I hope you liked it. As you may have noticed, we've seen some Freighties already. And we'll be seeing some more. Anyway, if your character(s) weren't in the chapter, they will be seen soon.**


	7. Take What You Need and be on Your Way

**Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it. Enjoy! I don't own Lost.**

The Red Head woman that had been taken from the Front of the plane opened her eyes slowly, to see that she was in a cage. _What the Hell had happened? Weren't they on a plane? Where were her daughters?_

'glad to see you're awake,' a voice said. The woman turned and almost jumped back in surprise. There was a teenage girl with black hair, and half her face scarred. 'what's your name?' she asked her.

'who the Hell are you?' the woman demanded.

'my name's Scarlett. Now what's your name?'

'where are my children?'

'what the Hell is your name?' Scar demanded angrily.

'her name is Evangeline Mercier,' a voice said. Scar turned to see Kat. 'she's more commonly known as Eva though. She's forty-one. Has three children. Two sisters, two brothers. One nephew, three nieces.'

'how do you know all that?' Scar asked in surprise.

'hello, my sister,' Evangeline said to Kat. 'long time, no see.'

--

'got anything?' Charlie asked Jack as they walked back through the jungle to the beach.

'not since the last time you asked, a minute ago,' Jack said in exasperation.

'Pardon me for appearing desperate, but before the pilot was ripped from the cockpit, he did say that no one's going to find us unless we get that transceiver working. So is there anything?'

'No.'

Erica looked at Oz, who was still carrying the young girl.

'do you think she's okay?' Erica asked him.

'I hope so.'

--

Laura sat next to Jennifer, looking at her sleeping injured friend. She had to be okay. She just had to.

'for what it's worth, I think she'll be okay,' Jason said, as he passed.

Laura looked up at him, recognition flashing across her face.

'you're the asshole from the airport,' she accused.

'and you're the bitch from the airport,' he countered.

They looked at each other.

'I'm Jason,' he said.

'Laura,' she said.

'nice to meet you, bitch,' he smirked.

'you too, asshole,' she returned the smirk.

--

Yoon sat next to Claire, both of them looking enviously at Shannon as she sunbathed.

'it's official,' Yoon said. 'I hate her.'

Claire laughed. 'I used to have a stomach.'

'as did I,' Yoon smiled. 'but thanks to my husband…'

'you're married?' Claire asked.

'yea…no…' she said. 'I always forget now. Are you married?'

'no. how modern of us,' Claire laughed again. Yoon swallowed back the tears that always came when she mentioned her husband, and laughed too. How could she help it? Claire's laughter was contagious.

--

Esther sighed, rolled her eyes, and walked over to the cage that was holding the other woman from the front of the plane.

'where's my wife?' the woman asked softly, tears rolling down her cheeks.

'unless her name is Evangeline Mercier or Kallirroe Mellas, I can't help you,' Esther said impatiently. 'what's your name?'

'Liliana,' she muttered. 'Liliana Mkabayi Mkhize,' she added.

'thanks,' she said before abruptly walking away.

She sighed again. She didn't get it. she was a doctor, and had the worst bedside manner possible. She guessed in the end she was still just like her sisters.

And being like Maya and Devika was _not _a good thing.

--

Everyone watched as Sawyer and Sayid fought each other.

'Hey guys. Come on, man. Hey,' Michael said.

They continued fighting, as if he hadn't spoken. Yoon got a smirk on her face and moved forward.

'Yoon!' Claire exclaimed, seeing her getting closer to them.

'break it up, guys!' Yoon exclaimed, getting closer to them.

'stay out of this, Chinese Whispers!' Sawyer exclaimed.

'shouldn't ignore a pregnant woman,' she pointed out.

'Hey. Break it up. Break it up! Come on!' Jack exclaimed, walking over. Michael and Jack each pulled one man away from the other.

'Son of a bitch!' Sawyer exclaimed.

'I'm sick of this redneck!' Sayid exclaimed.

'shared feeling,' Yoon muttered.

'Tell everyone what you told me!' Sayid exclaimed. 'Tell them that I crashed the plane! Go on! Tell them I made the plane crash!'

'What is going on?' Jack demanded.

Michael passed Jack some handcuffs.

'Look, my kid and Maya's kid found these in the jungle,' he said.

'she's my niece,' Maya pointed out.

'And this guy was sitting in the back row of business class, the whole flight, never got up. Hands folded underneath the blanket,' Sawyer said, ignoring Maya.

'thank you so much for observing my behavior,' Sayid said. The two tried to get at each other again.

'Stop!' Kate yelled. Everyone turned and looked at her, Sayid and Sawyer stopping. 'We found the transceiver, but it's not working. Can anybody help?'

'Yes. I might be able to,' Sayid said.

'Oh great. Perfect! Let's trust this guy!' Sawyer exclaimed.

'shut up!' Maya exclaimed.

'we're all in this together,' Roxy added. 'Let's treat each other with a little respect.'

'shut it, Moonbeam,' Sawyer said.

'Hey! Give it a break,' Jack said.

'Whatever you say, doc. You're the hero.'

He walked away.

--

_An eighteen year old Roxanne walked into a villa on the outskirts of Rome._

'_Miss Marino, what a surprise,' one of the many workers said to her._

'_Isabella,' she smiled. 'is my mother here?'_

'_Si,' Isabella nodded._

'_grazie,' Roxanne said. She went upstairs, to her mother's study and knocked._

'_come in,' a heavy Italian voice said._

_Roxy opened the door and walked in._

'_buongiorna, Rosanna,' Roxy's mother, Adrianna, said, smiling at her._

'_ciao,' Roxy smiled brightly, taking a seat. She tucked her feet underneath her and looked at her mother seriously._

'_what is it?' Adrianna asked, putting down her pen and moving over to the couch that Roxy was on._

'_I was at the house in Florence yesterday, and I found something. A letter from one Rina, to you.'_

_Adrianna looked at her, trying to hide her shock. 'what about it?'_

'_it said that this Rina was wondering how I was going, she was interested like a friend. Or perhaps a relative. Funny, I've never met her.' Although her tone was light, her eyes were on fire, demanding to know who this Emmy person was._

'_you know Rina,' Adrianna said. 'or rather, she knows you. You were only a baby when she last saw you.'_

'_is that so?' Roxy asked._

'_yes. You see, Rina is your mother.'_

'_my mother?' she asked in shock. 'my real mother?'_

'_yes, your real mother.'_

'_how can Rina be my mother? You said you didn't know her, so why are you writing to her?'_

'_Rina is an old friend of mine. From before I met your father. She couldn't look after you. So she asked if I could.'_

'_where can I find her?' Roxy asked._

'_somewhere you will never be able to get to, Rosanna,' Adrianna said, suddenly completely serious._

'_where can I find her?' Roxy repeated._

'_you're never going there,' Adrianna repeated._

'_where can I find her?'_

'_it doesn't matter.'_

'_where can I find her?'_

'_ask me again and so help me, Rosanna-' Adrianna began, standing up from her seat._

'_WHERE CAN I FIND HER?!' Roxy yelled, also standing up._

'_SOMEWHERE NEITHER OF US CAN EVER GO!!' Adrianna shrieked. 'now get out of my house!'_

'_fine!' Roxy yelled walking to out the door and slamming it shut._

_She would find her real mother._

_No matter what._

_--_

'thanks for your cooperation, Kallirroe,' Richard said, as Cam walked into the room.

Kallirroe looked at the two of them coldly, not saying a thing.

'yeah, looks like she's been cooperating,' Cam said sarcastically.

'are you taking her to where the others are?' he asked Cam in a low voice.

'why do you ask questions, when you know the answer?' she asked in an equally low voice.

Kallirroe looked at them in interest. _Were they related? _She wondered. They had the same eyes…

'lets go,' Cam said, grabbing Kallirroe and putting handcuffs on her. She walked her out and Kallirroe saw that they were in a small community. Was this place still on the island? How had there been a whole community on the island, and they hadn't noticed.

'how long have you been here for?' Kallirroe asked.

'oh, so you _do_ speak,' Cam said sarcastically.

Lani walked up beside them.

'so red and the crying one both tell the same story, the head cases believe it, the almighty "leader" believe the head cases, blind one we think is trying to steal Galaga, her seeing eye dog defended her, the heartless one and the electrician argued over the hunter, while our favorite mentor tried to stop them.'

'thanks for the update, Lani,' Cam said.

'oh, and the actual leader lied to me,' she said. 'see you.' she walked away.

'you actually understood that?' Kallirroe asked in amazement.

'yes,' Cam said. She knew it meant that Evangeline and Liliana told the same story, Harper and Gus believed it, Ben believed them, they thought Hayden was trying to steal the submarine, Gus defended her, Esther and Bracken argued of Joshua and Giliam was trying to stop them. And Jacob lied to Lani.

Pretty easy to figure out, actually.

It was basically the same old stuff.

--

'Jack?' Yoon asked.

'yeah?' he said.

'what type of doctor were you?' she asked.

'spinal. You?'

'Trauma,' she said.

'as was I,' a voice said. They turned to see Jason.

'you're a doctor?' Jack asked.

'I was a medic in the army for a few years,' he shrugged.

Yoon turned back to Jack. 'anyway, you better come look at the guy with burns. It's getting bad. I think.'

--

Kate walked over to Sayid.

'Is it working?' Kate asked.

'Seems to be. Except we're not picking up a signal,' Sayid said to her. 'what we want to see here is little bars. The bars would show the radio is getting reception.'

'We need the bars,' Sayid said to her.

'We could broadcast blind… Hope that someone—maybe a ship somewhere—picks up our distress call. But that could be a waste of the battery, which might not last that long. There is one thing we could try…'

'What?' Kate asked.

'Seeing if we can get a signal from high ground,' Sayid said.

'How high?' Kate asked.

Sayid looked up the mountain.

--

Claire, Yoon, Eli, Max, Jason, Hurley, Laura, a now awake Jennifer, Roxy, Michelle and Erica were all sitting around, sorting through some luggage.

Luka and Josie sat down with them.

'what are you doing?' Luka asked curiously.

'we're sorting through stuff for practical things we can use. Wanna help?' Kate asked.

'may as well,' Josie said.

At that moment Jin walked over, with some sea urchin on a makeshift plate.

He held out the plate, offering it to them.

'Dude... what _is_ that?' Hurley asked.

'sea urchin,' Yoon said, taking a piece. 'gamsahamnida,' she bowed her head to Jin.

'what?' Jason asked.

'it means thank you,' she explained, taking a bite. 'it's good guys. Try it.'

'Dude,' Hurley said. 'I'm... starving... But, I'm nowhere near that hungry.'

Eli, Erica, Max, Laura, Michelle and Jennifer looked at each other before taking a piece.

'nice,' Eli said.

Claire reached out to take a piece.

'Claire, what if it harms the baby?' Jason said.

Claire looked at Yoon. 'your baby's fine, isn't it?' she nodded. 'mine should be.'

She took a piece and ate it.

'Oh, gosh,' she said, standing up.

'what?' Jason asked.

'I just felt it,' she said, excited. 'Come here, feel this,' she grabbed her brothers hand and put it on her stomach. 'Do you feel that? There! Right there, that's a kick! There! There, right there's a foot! Oh no, he's, wait, he's moving around. "He". "He". I guess I think you're a "he",' she said the last part to her stomach.

'awesome,' Jason smiled.

Jennifer turned to Josie. 'is this yours?'

She passed her a photo. Josie looked at it curiously. In the photo there was a pregnant teenager, with blonde hair, pale skin and piercing blue eyes. Josie would know those eyes anywhere. Seeing as she had them too.

'oh, that's mine,' Roxy said, taking it. 'it's my mother.'

Josie smiled, hiding her surprise. Maybe she was wrong. Did the woman she thought it was have any sisters?

'what's her name?' Erica asked.

'Rina Morel. I've never met her. I've been hoping to.'

Erica nodded. Jennifer turned to Josie.

'sorry. She looks so much like you,' she said.

Roxy turned to Josie and studied her. Josie blinked in surprise. Looking at Roxy's eyes was like looking in a mirror. 'wow,' she turned to the others. 'am I hallucinating or do we have the same hair and eyes?'

'and skin,' Claire agreed.

'It's just my mum and I,' Josie said. 'she was an only child, and I don't know my father. So I don't know about this.'

'I was adopted,' Roxy said. 'my name's actually Rosanna, but I changed it. Never met my parents.'

'this is weird,' Jason said.

Josie nodded, making a mental note to go back to the Barracks that night.

--

'_one purse,' the jail guard said. '$154 in cash. One cell phone. One pen,' he passed the woman a piece of paper and a pen. 'sign here,' he said. She quickly signed the paper. 'now you can go.'_

_A now twenty-tree year old Roxanne scowled at the man and walked out of the police station. She sighed. There was nothing wrong with what she had done. All that she had done was stand outside Widmore Labs with about fifty other people and protest. She hadn't done anything wrong._

_At that moment her phone rang. She took it out of her pocket._

'_hello?'_

'_Roxy?' a voice asked._

_Roxy smiled. It was her friend, Holly. 'Holly, hey.'_

'_according to Vi, you guys did awesome, Roxy,' Holly said. 'and it's about to get better.'_

'_how so?' Roxy asked._

'_my friend, Brooke, you remember her, right?'_

'_yeah. She's the brunette who's pretty violent?'_

'_yeah, her. Well, she heard about how Widmore Constructions is planning to cut down trees so they can build another lab.'_

'_where?' Roxy asked immediately._

'_just outside Sydney, Australia. Look, I'm in Seoul, right now, protesting about Paik Heavy Industries, but I guess it can wait for another time. After all it's not gonna stop soon, right? Ian's protesting in France, don't know what about, but I'll get him.'_

'_I was protesting outside Widmore Labs,' Roxy said. 'Ren, Jasmine, Florence, Violet and Kane were with me. I'll round them up.'_

'_Greg and Anna are protesting about that damn Hanso Foundation. I'll get them too.'_

'_who's with you in Seoul?'_

'_Matt, Kelly, Stan, Jeremy and Lola. Well, Lola was with us but she's in LA at the moment. Protesting abortion, which is noble of her. Remember last time?'_

_Yes, Roxy fully remembered how all of them that had been protesting had been verbally – and for some of them, physically – abused outside the abortion clinic._

'_oh, and Brooke's with Nathan in Miami, protesting about some scientific thing. We might be able to pull a lot of these people away, to save these trees.'_

'_meet you in Sydney then,' Roxy said._

'_sure will,' Holly said. The two of them closed their phones._

_Roxy smiled._

_Was it wrong to be planning something that some would call illegal as she stood outside a police station?_

_--_

Aryel pulled a huge suitcase across the beach, before it got caught on something.

'hey!' Charlie said, jogging over. 'need some help?' he asked, already grabbing a handle.

'no, I don't need help! Now let go of my suitcase!' she exclaimed, wrenching it out of his grip.

'sorry,' Charlie said. 'I just thought-'

'you just thought that you'd help out the girl struggling with this? Well I got news for you! I don't need your help! I can take care of myself, dammit!'

Charlie looked at her in shock as she walked away, muttering profanities under her breath.

--

Evangeline stared at the two women that had been put in the same cage as her. They had all been there for three hours, none of them saying anything.

Finally, one of the other women spoke. 'were you on the plane too?' she asked quietly.

'yes,' Eva said.

'yes,' the other woman said. 'I'm Kallirroe. My friends call me Killy.'

'Liliana,' the first woman to speak said.

'Evangeline,' Eva said. 'most people just call me Eva.'

'nice to meet you,' Killy said.

'you too,' the other two said in unison.

--

Yoon was lying on the beach, her eyes closed as she talked in Korean to her sister, who was sitting next to her.

'why don't you just tell him, Sun?' Yoon asked.

'because I love him,' Sun said.

'and…?' Yoon prompted.

'have you never lied to the person you loved, to protect him?' Sun questioned.

Yoon's eyes snapped open, and she looked at her sister before she looked away. 'enough questions, Sun-Hwa.'

--

Sammy walked over to where Charlie, Kate and Sayid were arguing with Eli. Turned out he wanted to go on the hike too.

'I'm coming with you,' Eli insisted.

'I don't … know if that's such a good idea,' Kate said.

He turned to Erica who just walked over. 'are you going with them?' he asked her.

'yeah,' she shrugged.

'she's still a teenager too. So I'm coming.'

'Look, everybody can come. But we're leaving now,' Kate said she began to walk off.

'You couldn't tell from that, but she's actually really nice,' Charlie told Eli, Shannon and Boone. Shannon and Boone had walked over and decided to join them too.

Sammy, Eli, Shannon, Boone, Aryel, Roxy, Erica, Charlie and Sayid followed Kate to the jungle. Sawyer watched them go. After a minute, he got up and followed.

As he caught up, Kate noticed him.

'You decided to join us,' Kate said.

'I'm a complex guy, sweetheart,' Sawyer said.

Sammy rolled his eyes.

'sure you are,' he muttered.

--

Oz was sitting in the makeshift infirmary, keeping an eye on the girl he had carried back from the cockpit. He hoped she was okay. She was only a child.

At that moment, Yoon and Jack walked in.

'hey,' Oz said to them.

'Oz, right?' Yoon said. He nodded. 'has she woken up?' she asked.

'no,' he said.

'well, she should soon,' Yoon said. She walked over to Jack, who was checking on the burnt man.

'see, if we were back in the real world,' Yoon said. 'I would have skin grafts put on him. But here…he's going to be scarred for the rest of his life.'

'if he survives,' Jack said.

'your bedside manner isn't that good, you know?' she said. He smiled at her as she moved to check on the man with the metal in him. She checked him over and out of the corner of her eye she saw three pieces of paper in his jacket pocket.

She looked over her shoulder and saw that Jack was immersed in checking the other man. She took the three pieces of paper and opened them, one after the other.

On the first, there was a picture of a brunette woman, no expression on her face. It was a mug shot.

On the second, there was a man, short and thin, also devoid of an expression on his face. It was also a mug shot.

On the third, there was another woman, a short Asian looking over her shoulder, gun just visible at her waist. This was more of a surveillance shot.

The first one said Katherine Austen.

The second one said Samuel Vance.

And the third one said Yoon-Cha Paik.

Yoon stared at the three photos in shock for a minute, before pocketing them all.

--

_Roxy looked around at her friends, and then plus another twenty or so people. At the moment she was chained to a tree, outside Sydney, her friends chained to trees all around her._

_And the people who were meant to be cutting down these trees stood in front of them, helpless to what they should do._

_One of the men walked up to Brooke. 'you seem like reasonable people, that only want what _they _think is best, but we have to do our jobs. My wife will kill me if I lose my job.'_

_Brooke gave an animal like snarl and spit in his face._

'_kill you like you want to kill these trees?' Roxy asked as the man wiped the spit from his face._

'_they've been here for years,' another guy tried to reason with them._

'_so?' Roxy said._

_Another man grabbed the other two men and pulled them back. 'doesn't matter now. Parker called the police. They're here.'_

_The group of them looked past the men, and sure enough, the police were there._

_--_

The group that was hiking walked through the jungle.

'Okay! Wide open space!' Sawyer exclaimed. 'You should check the radio, see if we're good.'

'We're not going to have any reception here,' Sayid said. 'I don't want to waste the batteries.'

'Just check the damn radio!' Sawyer exclaimed.

'If I just check… we might not have any juice left when we get to-' suddenly he was cut off by a low growling sound, and some movement.

'What the Hell?' Sammy asked.

'Something's coming,' Kate said.

'I think we all established that,' Aryel said.

'It's coming towards us, I think,' Charlie said.

'let's move,' Kate said.

They all begun running, back in the direction they had come from. Well, all of them apart from Sawyer.

Kate turned back to get him. 'Sawyer!'

'Let him go!' Sayid yelled, grabbing her.

Sawyer took out a gun and shot blindly into the jungle several times. Slowly, everyone turned back and walked to where Sawyer was to see a huge white bear dead in front of him.

'is that a polar bear?' Sammy asked.

'uh huh,' Erica said, at a loss for words.

'you shot a living creature!' Roxy exclaimed.

Aryel rolled her eyes. 'Roxy, stop with the 'tree-hugging-save-the-wild-animals-that-are-trying-to-kill-us' thing you do all the time, and just think about it: a freaking polar bear tried to trample us!'

'to put it lightly,' Charlie added.

--

On the other side of the island, Eva was leaning against the bars of the cage.

'do you have children?' Eva asked the other two women.

Killy shook her head.

'two,' Liliana said softly. 'Mkabayi and Malik,' she added. 'do you?'

'three,' Eva said. 'Felicity, Lucille and Melinda.'

'Melinda? Felicity?' Killy asked, looking up at her.

'yes.'

'they were at the tail with me.'

'really?' her face brightened. 'are they alright?'

'well, they seem fine, but Felicity must have had a bowl of bitchy for breakfast yesterday.'

Eva laughed. 'oh, she's like that all the time. Wait… what about Lucy?'

Killy looked at her. 'no…I'm sorry.'

Eva's smile vanished. 'she'll be okay. She will,' she paused. 'so did you have anyone with you on the plane?'

'no. just me,' Killy said.

'Liliana?' Eva asked.

'my wife…Michelle,' she said, tears in her eyes.

'she'll be okay,' Eva assured her.

Liliana smiled weakly at her.

--

'That can't be a polar bear,' Boone said.

'It's a polar bear,' Sayid and Kate said in unison.

'Yeah, but … Polar bears don't usually live in the jungle,' Eli said.

'I shall now dub you, Captain Obvious,' Aryel said under her breath.

'no, polar bears don't live near this far south,' Erica said.

'and there's Little Miss point-out-the-evident,' Aryel added, still under her breath.

'This one does,' Boone pointed out to Erica and Eli.

'Did. It did,' Sawyer said.

'Where did that come from?' Kate asked Sawyer, looking straight at him.

'Probably Bear Village,' Sawyer said. 'How the hell do I know?'

'Not the bear. The gun.'

'I got if off one of the bodies,' Sawyer said, as if it were obvious.

'One of the bodies?' Sayid asked.

'Yeah, one of the bodies,' he said again.

'People don't carry guns on planes,' Shannon said.

'They do if they're a US Marshal, sweet cheeks. There was one on the plane,' Sawyer said. 'And I saw the guy lying there with an ankle holster, so I took the gun. I thought it might come in handy. Guess what? I just shot a bear!' he yelled the last three words.

'So why do you think he's a Marshal?' Kate asked.

'Because he had a clip-on badge,' Sawyer held it up. 'I took that too. Thought it was cool.'

'I know who you are. You're the prisoner,' Sayid said.

'okay! I'm the criminal. You're the terrorist. We can all play a part,' he turned to Erica. 'Who do you want to be, Princess?'

As soon as he turned, Kate grabbed the gun from the back of his waist and pointed it at him.

'Does anybody know how to use a gun?' she asked.

'take the safety off, and squeeze the trigger,' Sammy said in a deadpan voice. Sawyer threw his old friend an exasperated look. 'what? She wanted to know.'

'Don't use the gun, Kate,' Sayid and Roxy said in unison.

'I want to take it apart,' she explained.

Sayid started telling Kate exactly how to take the gun apart. After a minute, she passed the magazine to Sayid and the actual gun to Sawyer.

They all began walking again.

'I know your type,' Sawyer said to Kate, grabbing her arm.

'I doubt that,' she said.

--

_The guard turned to Roxy._ Here we go again, _she thought. _

'_one purse,' the jail guard said. '$113 in cash. One cell phone.' he passed Roxy a piece of paper and a pen. 'sign here,' he said. She quickly signed the paper. 'you can go now,' he said. 'you're lucky you have someone to bail you out.'_

'_I realized that,' she said to him, throwing him a look of disdain._

_She turned and walked over to where Aryel was._

_Aryel shook her head in disbelief as they walked out._

'_thank you?' Roxy offered._

'_define vacation for me, Roxy,' Aryel said._

'_I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.'_

'_vacation,' Aryel said. 'leisure time, away from work, devoted to rest. That's what a vacation is. Not bailing you out of jail.'_

'_I'm sorry,' Roxy repeated as her phone went off. She opened it. 'hello?'_

'_that was wicked,' Lola said excitedly._

'_hey, Lola,' Roxy smiled._

'_so Widmore Labs in LA is doing some stuff most would describe as fine, but I describe as immoral. You in?'_

'_let me just book a flight,' Roxy said, before hanging up._

_Once again, outside a police station._

_--_

Yoon watched from the entrance to the infirmary as the Marshal woke up and grabbed Jack.

'Where is she?' he demanded.

Yoon slowly backed out of the infirmary.

Which 'she' was he talking about?

--

Sayid got out the transceiver.

'Oh! Now's a good time to check the radio! Not before, but now!' Sawyer exclaimed.

'We're up higher,' Sayid explained. He looked at the transceiver. 'We've got a bar! Mayday! Mayday!'

'What is that?' Kate asked.

'I think it's feedback,' Aryel said.

'Feedback from what? What would do that?' Erica asked.

'We can't transmit because something else is already transmitting. From somewhere close. The signal's strong.'

'Somewhere close?' Roxy asked. 'You mean on the island? That's great!'

'Maybe it's other survivors,' Boone said.

'From our plane? How would they even-' Shannon began before being interrupted.

'What kind of transmission is it?' Sammy asked.

'Could be a sat phone, maybe a radio signal…' he trailed off. 'Let me get the frequency first. Hold on.'

'why do you want to find the frequency?' Eli asked.

'so we can listen to it,' Sayid explained to him.

They started hearing the transmission.

'It's French! The French are coming! I've never been so happy to hear the French!' Charlie said.

'I never took French. What does she say?' Aryel said.

'Shannon speaks French,' Boone said.

'not fluently enough to understand that!' she exclaimed.

'I speak French fluently,' Erica said.

'so do I,' Roxy added.

Sayid passed the two of them the transceiver, and they listened.

'Iteration 7294531,' came over the transceiver, in a different voice.

'Okay. What's that?' Charlie asked.

'Oh, no. The batteries are dying!' Sayid said.

'How much time do we have?' Eli asked.

'Not much.'

'It's … it's repeating,' Erica said slowly.

'She's saying … "Please". She's saying, "Please"…' Erica began.

'"please help me. Please, come get me",' Roxy continued. '"I'm alone now".'

'"On the island alone. Please, someone come. The others, they're…"' Erica looked at the transceiver in shock.

'what is it?' Eli asked.

'"they're dead",' Roxy said. '"It killed them. I-it killed them all".'

The others all looked at each other in shock.

'Sixteen years,' Sayid said. 'it's been on a loop for sixteen years and five months.'

'What the Hell are you talking about?' Boone asked.

'The iterations. It's a distress call. A plea for help. A mayday. If the count is right… It's been playing over… and over… for sixteen years.'

'Someone else? Was stranded here?' Boone asked.

'Maybe they came for them,' Kate suggested.

'or maybe they didn't,' Aryel said.

'stop being negative, Ary,' Roxy said.

'no,' Sammy said. 'what if she's right?'

'she's not,' Boone said.

'well, if someone came for them, then why is it still playing?'

They all looked at each other in shock and realization. What if no one came for them?

'Guys…' Charlie said. 'Where are we?'

--

**I hope you guys liked it. Now, you have choice for the next flashbacks. Yoon or Sammy?**


	8. Livin' In A Shell With No Soul

**Hey! Sorry for the wait. This chapter is a Yoon centric. Enjoy! I don't own Lost.**

As it hit sunset, Josie slowly faded into the jungle, away from camp. She angrily stalked in the direction of the Barracks, intending to demand why Katarina had lied to her. Well, not lied. It's not like she actually asked.

She stopped short when she saw someone appear in front of her.

'going somewhere, Josephine?' a voice asked.

'is my mother at the Barracks?' she asked.

'she might be,' the woman said.

'cut the bullshit act right now Bracken, and tell me,' Josie demanded. She didn't have time for this shit right now.

'I really don't know. I've been at the Tempest,' she answered honestly.

'okay, then,' Josie said, continuing walking. If Bracken either didn't know, or wouldn't tell her, she would go there herself.

'wait,' Bracken said. 'Josephine-'

'it's okay, I'm just going to the Barracks to see my mother,' Josie said, as if it was the most normal thing ever, while she was a spy.

'no,' Bracken said. 'Kat will be coming with Lani to get your lists. I'll make sure Kat comes and sees you.'

'fine,' Josie sighed in defeat.

'make sure you have the list completed by this time tomorrow, Josephine,' Bracken said.

Josie nodded and turned back to the camp, slowly walking back.

If Kat didn't come, Josie would blow everything to see her.

--

'have to find her. Have to bring her back,' the Marshal breathed.

Jack looked at him. 'you keep saying that, and I'm guessing you have no idea what and who you're talking about.'

'My jacket pocket,' he said. 'jacket pocket.'

'Jack grabbed the Marshal's jacket, and put his hand in the pocket.

There was nothing there.

--

From the doorway of the infirmary, Yoon smiled.

--

It's getting dark,' Eli said as the group walked back to the beach.

'and Captain Obvious strikes again,' Aryel said.

'then pick up the pace,' Sawyer said at the same time as Aryel.

'bitch,' Erica said quietly.

'hick,' Eli said at the same time.

'little louder?' Aryel and Sawyer said in unison, turning towards the teenagers.

'we should make camp,' Sayid said, ending the argument before it even began.

'what, here?' Shannon asked.

'no, up in the trees,' Aryel said sarcastically.

'actually,' Roxy began.

'Rox, we know you've slept in a tree, but that doesn't mean it's comfortable,' Aryel said, rolling her eyes.

'yes, here,' Sayid said, putting down his pack.

'you slept in a tree?' Kate asked Roxy as the two of them sat down.

'yeah,' she shrugged. 'no big deal.'

'she's also chained herself to a tree, been a picketer, been part of a sit-in, had a hunger strike and numerous other stuff I can't remember,' Aryel said, sitting down next to the two women.

'so you're a protester?' Kate asked Roxy.

'and proud of it,' Roxy smiled widely.

'and who has to bail you out every time?' Aryel said.

Roxy smiled at her. 'How many times do I have to say sorry before you forgive me?' she asked.

'how many times are you going to say sorry? Then maybe I can get an idea,' Aryel countered, smiling.

--

_Yoon stared at the object in her hand, shocked. No. This could not be happening._

'_Ryan!' her voice was shaky as she called out to her husband._

_Several seconds passed and Ryan walked into the room, looking at Yoon. 'Yoon? What's wrong?'_

_She held up the object so he could see it._

'_what?' he asked, his eyes widening. 'are you sure?'_

'_yes,' she whispered. 'I'm pregnant.'_

'_we're having a baby,' he said softly. 'Yoon, we're starting a family.'_

_She smiled at him and hugged him, her smile disappearing as soon as he couldn't see her face._

_She briefly wondered whether they'd kill her for this._

--

On the other side of the island, Serena walked up to Leonard, who was gathering some firewood.

'hey, what's your name again?' Serena asked.

'Leonard,' he said shortly.

Serena blinked. 'yeah... well, there's an argument down the beach, where everyone else is.'

'so?' he didn't really care. It didn't involve him, so it didn't matter to him.

'it's about those people. Who took some of us,' she explained. 'some of us, especially the really tall guy, the Latina and that woman, umm...Layla! yeah, those three and some others think we should move off this beach. Apparently it's not safe. What do you think?'

'either way,' he shrugged. Again, he didn't really care.

'well, we're taking a vote,' she said. 'according to Constance, everyone should take part. It's only fair, apparently.'

Leonard sighed and followed her as she walked back to the main group.

--

Early the next morning, Lani shoved the last of the papers into her backpack and shouldered it. She looked at another yellowed piece of paper on the table. She picked it up, looking at the sketch that she had done a lifetime – actually, several lifetimes – ago.

'are you going somewhere?' a voice asked behind her, already knowing the answer. She did this several times a decade.

She hastily turned around and wiped the lone tear from her cheek.

'yeah,' she said.

'where?' Richard asked.

'the Temple for awhile, and if I get over my anger at him, I'm going to see Jacob. I'll be gone for a few days, maybe a week. Could be longer,' she said.

He nodded and looked at the piece of paper in her hand, silently asking what it was.

She turned it around and showed him. 'my life before this Island,' she said simply before kissing his cheek. 'bye,' she said, walking to the door.

'bye,' he said.

Lani walked outside and hurried across the Barracks, trying to ensure Ben wouldn't see her leave, and try to stop her.

'Lani? Where are you going?'

Damn.

Lani stopped and turned to face Ben.

'the Temple,' she said, thinking better than to mention that she would be seeing Jacob. She knew it annoyed Ben how she did whatever she damn well pleased whenever she felt the need.

'aren't you meant to be doing something for me later?' he asked, knowing full well that she was indeed meant to do something for him later that night.

'send someone else,' she said.

'I trusted you with this, Noelani.'

'and I don't care, Benjamin,' Lani said. 'I'm going to the Temple. Someone else will do it,' out of the corner of her eye she saw someone walk across the Barracks, close to them. 'Renata!' she called out.

The woman in question turned and looked at her questionably.

'you'll take other my job of going to the tail section of the plane and getting the list, won't you?' Lani asked, eyes filled with fire.

Fire that would be directed at Renata if she turned down Lani, most likely. Renata looked between Ben and Lani, Lani looking a bit angry – most likely at Ben – and Ben looking calm. As she thought about it, she came to a conclusion, a conclusion that everyone on the island had at one point. It came down to who scared you more – the ageless woman who had been more animal then human at times or the leader of them all, who could get you killed and make it look like an accident?

When that thought crossed her mind, she was leaning more towards Ben's side. But, then she remembered something Lani had said to Ethan – Lani had said that she had four knives, two guns and 200+ years' experience. And then she had proceeded to ask if Ethan really wanted to piss her off.

'sure,' Renata said. 'I'll do it.'

Lani smiled at her and turned back to Ben. 'problem solved. See you,' she said in a patronizing voice before walking away, out of the Barracks.

--

'this beach is dangerous,' Layla said to the rest of the tail section survivors.

'then where the Hell do you propose we go?' Flick asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

'anywhere but on this beach,' the tall man, Warren, said. 'they know we're here.'

'and who are 'they'?' Jonas asked.

'obviously the people who took the others,' Dom said. 'I agree. We should move off the beach.'

Flick, who was right in front of him, turned and gave Dom a look of disbelief.

'sorry, Flick,' he said. 'I just reckon we should.'

'I agree with Felicity,' Induala said timidly. 'how will we ever get rescued if we're off this beach. It's only the second night. There's still hope.'

'hope,' Akilina said hesitantly, nodding.

Flick looked out across the ocean, knowing that her mother and sister were somewhere down there.

She had no hope.

--

Claire and Maya walked over to Jack.

'hey, Jack, right?' Maya said. He nodded. 'Claire here had an idea.'

Jack turned to Claire expectantly.

'oh, well, um, some of us were wondering, seeing as we're burning the bodies tonight, if maybe we should do some kind of memorial service, or something. You could lead it.'

'uh, no, I don't think-' he began.

'just a few words,' Claire said.

'look, it's not my thing,' Jack said.

'oh, okay,' Claire said. 'maybe I'll do it.'

Jack nodded and walked away.

'I'll help,' Max said, hearing what was going on.

Claire smiled. 'thanks.'

--

Scarlett looked in the mirror and lightly traced her newest scar on her face. She had gotten it several months beforehand and was still getting used to it being there.

'how many do you have now, Scar?' a voice behind her asked.

She looked in the mirror at the young girl. 'eleven of them.'

She turned to look at the girl who was like a sister to her.

'how'd you get them again?' the girl asked, always loving to hear Scar's stories of her life in New York.

'Molly, you know Richard and Cam both hate it when I tell you of life in New York,' Scar sighed. She really liked to tell Molly stories, but she was forbidden to speak about her time in New York. After all, some people might have nightmares about it. She knew that she did.

'please?' Molly asked.

Scar sighed. 'you wanna know how I got this one?' she asked, pointing to one of them.

'how?'

'well, it all started in the Empire State Building, when I told someone I'd tell them when they're older,' Scar smirked as she walked past Molly.

'not fair!' Molly exclaimed.

'life's not fair, Molls,' Scar said. 'you just gotta learn to get used to it.'

--

Claire looked out to sea as she sat in companionable silence with her brother.

'where are the rescue boats?' Claire asked softly, still looking at the ocean.

'I don't know, Claire,' Jason answered honestly, also looking out at the ocean.

'what if they don't?' she asked, suddenly turning her head and looking at him.

He didn't turn to her for a minute, but she stared intently at him, waiting for him to answer as she tried to read his face – but it was so hard to read – as she tried to avoid the familiar jagged scar on his jaw line.

He slowly turned towards her.

'I promise you Claire that I will get you off this island,' he said.

She smiled at him, knowing that he had yet to break a promise he made her.

'hey!' Laura yelled, jogging over with Jennifer limping behind her. 'asshole!'

Jason smiled and turned his head to look at her. 'did you need something, bitch?'

'funnily enough, I did,' Laura said. 'hence the reason I called out to you.'

'see, I put two and two together and figured that out,' Jason said to her.

'I'm going hunting,' she explained. 'Jenny here is paranoid and doesn't think I should go alone, so I'm asking if you want to come with me.'

'I'm honored you decided to ask me,' he said.

'well, Oz is watching over the kid, Jack and Yoon are looking after the injured, Jenny's injured, the Beauty Queen is doing her nails, that Russian guy is pissed off beyond all Hell, his father's weird, and antisocial. Which, speaking of antisocial, Little Blonde is being a bit like that today, Max is doing whatever the Hell, trying to find his surfboard I think, Sayid, Charlie, Michelle, Maya and a bunch of other people I don't know are helping with the signal fire and I don't know anyone else. So that left you as my only choice,' she said.

'now turn the knife clockwise,' Jason said sarcastically.

'are you coming or not?' she asked.

Jason looked at Claire. 'you'll be okay?' he asked her.

'yeah,' she smiled.

'okay, remember what I said,' he told her. 'I will.'

'I know,' she said. He jumped up and followed Laura.

Jenny sat down next to Claire.

'those two have the weirdest interaction,' Jenny said.

Claire smiled and nodded in agreement.

--

Yoon sat against a tree as Sayid talked to the rest of the survivors. She couldn't be bothered listening; she'd just get Sun to tell her the important stuff later.

Kate walked past her and Yoon got an idea.

'hey! Kate!' she called out.

Kate stopped and turned to her, looking at her questionably. Yoon gestured for her to come over.

Kate walked over and looked at her.

'sit with me, Katherine Austen,' she said, pulling Kate's mug shot out of her pocket and showing her.

Kate got a panicked look on her face and she turned to walk away.

'sit and talk, or I will tell everyone,' Yoon threatened calmly.

Kate blinked. This girl was good. She sighed and sat down. 'what?'

'do you feel like helping me out?'

'with what?' Kate was curious. What did this girl need her help with that she couldn't ask anyone else?

Yoon bit her lip. Now that she thought about it, she didn't really trust this woman. 'could you go find Sammy for me? I need to ask him something.'

'sure,' Kate said, knowing that Yoon was going to ask something different but changed her mind.

'thanks,' Yoon smiled. 'I won't tell anyone, Kate.'

Kate smiled and walked off to go find Sammy.

Yoon smiled again. Soon he'd be dead.

--

It was approaching dark and Luka had found it.

He had found the picture of himself and Akilina. The one he thought he had lost.

'what's that?' Josie asked, sitting down next to him and passing him a bottle of water.

'nothing,' Luka said before taking a mouthful of the water.

'that your girlfriend?' she asked, curious as to what the life of a normal seventeen year old was like.

Luka choked on his water. 'my sister,' he said when he recovered.

'was she…?' she began, not wanting to finish the sentence.

'yeah. She was on the plane,' he said sadly.

Josie reached over and put her hand over his. 'I'm sorry,' she said genuinely.

He smiled weakly at her. 'she was my best friend.'

'I'm so sorry,' she repeated. Although she didn't really know him, she wanted to hug him to show how sorry she was. So she hugged him.

'do you have a sister?' he asked her, trying to change the subject.

Josie looked across the beach, seeing Roxy laugh with Max. she had her suspicions, but… 'no,' she said, tearing her eyes away from the young woman.

--

From the edge of the jungle, Kat let out a low catlike snarl.

Josie was getting too close. Way too close.

--

On the other side of the island, they had come to a decision. They were moving the next morning. So Goodwin faded into the jungle and quietly ran until he met up with who he thought would be Lani.

But it wasn't.

'Renata?' he asked in surprise.

'you should be meeting me in another few hours,' she said. 'according to Lani.'

'you need to get back to the Barracks and get Cam, Josh, Lani, Tom, Carlos and Krist,' Goodwin said urgently.

'why?'

'they're moving in the morning.'

'well, who do you want us to take?' Renata asked, producing a pencil and notebook.

'Emma and Zach,' he began.

'no last name yet?' she asked, writing down their names.

'no. Jessica Aldwin. Dominic, no last name still. Felicity Mercier. There's something about her. You'll need Lani, Richard and Cam to speak to her. They'll know. I… I think she's a bit like Josie.'

'that makes sense,' Renata nodded, writing down the names.

'it does. Try to get her sister, Melinda, but if you can't it won't matter too much. Induala Karim has potential, but she's a bit too timid for our community, so if you can get her too, that will be good, but if you can't, that's okay too. Oh, and Warren Murdock, get him too.'

'that all?' she asked, adding the names to the list.

'yes. Where's Lani?'

'went off into the jungle, looked pretty pissed, asked if I could do this for her. I'll be back in an hour or so.

And with that, Renata ran back the way she had come.

--

'you wanted to see me?' Sammy asked, sitting down next to Yoon.

'I want to trust you with something,' Yoon began.

'what?' he said.

She passed him his mug shot.

'where did you get this?' he asked.

'the Marshal. He had this too,' she passed him the surveillance shot of herself.

He looked at it in shock and turned back to her.

'what-'

'I want your help killing the Marshal to hide these from the others.'

He smirked. 'you're not as innocent as everyone thinks, are you?'

'not in the slightest,' she said.

--

_Yoon sat in her car across from an apartment building, her hand on her slight bump. How would they react? _

_She slowly walked across the street and into the building before making her way to a familiar apartment. She knocked twice and raked her fingernails across the door, telling them that it was her._

_She walked in to see five out of the six others there. Good enough._

'_hey,' Yoon said, her South Korean accent dropping into her actual North Korean accent._

'_Yoon, hi,' one of the girls, Cho Yun, said, smiling. Out of all of them, Yoon got along with Cho the best._

'_you might all want to sit down,' she said to her teammates. They did so and looked at her._

'_did you kill him?' Hyo Ki, asked, a huge smile on his face._

'_what?' she asked in shock._

'_your husband? Ryan? You told us you'd kill him soon,' Kwan asked. Yes, she had told her fellow infiltrators that she'd dispose of her husband soon. But she couldn't. She loved him. But if she loved him, why was she doing this? Not telling him that she was actually a North Korean spy who infiltrated South Korea and then Australia, planning on killing people. She should have told him._

'_no. This thing complicates matters slightly,' she said._

_She heard the two knocks on the door and the fingernails scrape it and the door opened._

'_you're pregnant, aren't you?' Hana Ro asked her from behind._

'_that I am,' she said softly._

'_I can't believe you. It's called birth control, Yoon-Cha Gal!' she exclaimed, using her actual full name, not her adopted name._

'_you're one to talk,' Yoon said, gesturing to Hana's pregnant stomach._

'_back off, Yoon,' Kyung said. They all said it was okay if Hana got pregnant, because her partner was in the cell. But if Yoon or Cho did, they had to kill it. After all, they were married to outsiders, people that would die in the end._

'_I'll kill him,' Yoon said. 'but not my baby.'_

'_do you want us to kill you?' the cold-hearted Hana asked, advancing towards her._

'_Hana!' the only one not to have spoken and the leader of them all, Chin, said. 'we are not killing Yoon-Cha. This is good. She's even more trusted now.'_

'_exactly,' Yoon said. 'and then he'll, you know, die in what we're doing in a few months and no one would be any wiser.'_

'_you're more like your mother every day, Yoon,' Chin said._

'_congratulations, Yoon,' Cho said. _

'_thank you,' she said softly, not missing the look Kyung and Hana shared. A look craving for the blood of her husband._

_Sometimes she really hated being a spy._

--

Nemo looked at the passport in shock. He looked up and saw someone walking into the jungle. Wasn't that woman's name…

Nemo jumped up and followed Josie to the jungle.

--

Kat looked through the trees and her eyes widened. Was that Rosanna?

--

'Josefina?' Nemo asked as the two got further into the jungle.

Josie turned around, slightly surprised.

'where are you going?' Nemo asked, his voice as hard as steel.

'bathroom,' she lied easily.

'so your name is Josefina Williams, right?' Nemo asked.

'yeah,' she lied again.

'then why,' Nemo began taking out the passport in his pocket. 'does this passport say Josefina Williams?'

On the passport there was a middle aged African-American woman. Her name said Josefina Williams.

Josie stared at it, her mouth open.

'who the Hell are you?' Nemo asked, taking his gun out and leveling Josie's head with it.

Nemo suddenly fell forward on the ground, unconscious.

'tread a bit lighter, okay Josephine?' Kat said to Josie, the gun that knocked out Nemo in her hand.

--

Flick tried to scream when a hand covered her mouth. Her eyes flew open and she struggled to escape. The person attacking her hit her with something on the back of the head. Maybe a gun?

'hey!'

Her head was spinning but she faintly heard someone yell through the chaos around her.

'get the Hell away from her!'

Turning her head to the side, she saw Dom run up to her. Her eyes widened as she saw a pale woman run behind Dom, ready to knock him out. She mouth opened to warn him but no sound came out.

That's when he fell to the ground unconscious.

But she didn't see that. For she was already unconscious too.

Josie was leaning against a tree, watching the still body on the ground.

'are you going to kill him?' her voice was empty, devoid of emotion.

Kat whirled around, fire in her eyes. 'what kind of person do you take me for, Josephine?' she hissed.

'I know you, Katarina,' Josie said, ice lacing her words.

'you only think you do,' Kat said, her words equally icy.

The mother and daughter glared at each other for a minute before Kat spoke.

'help me move him a couple miles for Scoresby to help me,' she said.

'I didn't hear a request, more like an order. Funny that,' Josie said sarcastically.

'just help, Josephine,' Kat snapped. 'we'll talk on the way.'

'fine,' Josie said, picking up Nemo's feet as Kat picked up his arms.

--

'how are we going to do this?' Sammy asked Yoon as they sat next to each other.

'I'm his doctor as well as Jack,' Yoon reminded him. 'I can do something.'

'if you could do it yourself, why do you need my help?'

Seriously, this woman that he had only known a few days was asking him to help her kill someone and then telling him she didn't need his help. What the Hell?

'I need you to supply me with a weapon and I need you to keep a look out,' she explained.

He sighed. 'when?'

Yoon looked across to where Claire, Max, Laura, Jennifer and Jason were getting ready for the memorial service.

'when everyone's distracted by the service,' she answered.

--

'it's official,' Killy said from inside the cage. 'I hate this cage.'

'you only just realized, Killy?' Eva smiled slightly.

'known since I was thrown in here, Eva,' Killy said. 'great,' she muttered suddenly. 'here comes one of them.'

She was the only one who could see because of the position she was in.

'the scarred girl or Katarina?' Eva asked.

'neither,' she said. 'an extremely pale short girl with blonde hair and who looks like she's stumbling. Does it ring a bell?'

'none whatsoever,' Eva said. 'Liliana?'

'no,' she said softly.

The woman walked closer and stood outside the cage, her eyes fixating on a place somewhere above Eva's head.

'hi,' she said. 'I'm Hayden. I need to take some blood from Liliana.'

'why are you looking at me then?' Eva asked.

'I'm not,' she opened the gate. 'if you try to escape I will taser you,' she warned them as sh walked towards where she assumed Liliana was.

'Hayden!'

Hayden sighed and kept walking towards Liliana, ignoring Esther and Gus.

'what are you doing, Shephard?' Esther asked icily.

'Esther,' Gus warned. He knew Hayden would rip Esther to pieces if she so much as hinted she thought a blind person was incompetent.

'taking the blood that Juliet wanted,' she said calmly.

'you can't even see, so how do you suppose you'll do that?' Esther asked.

'I may be blind, but that does not make me an invalid, Esther,' Hayden said, her face furious.

She put the needle in Liliana's arm and drew some blood. When she took the needle out, she passed Liliana a cotton swab.

'hold this to your arm for a few minutes,' she told her before walking out and locking the cage.

She passed Esther the blood and kept walking. 'a word, Esther,' she said.

Esther rolled her eyes at Gus and followed Hayden. After a second he followed too.

'let's get this straight, Sahin,' Hayden said. 'as much as you hate me, I can do stuff. Think about it for a second. If I couldn't do stuff I would not have been brought to the island. I can do stuff. I was going to become a doctor-'

'but you didn't. I did,' Esther interrupted.

Hayden opened her mouth but Gus put a hand on her arm.

'just walk away, Hayden,' he said softly. 'you're done.'

Hayden sighed and turned.

'yeah, just walk away,' Esther said. 'it's all you've ever done.'

Hayden turned back and with surprising accuracy punched Esther square in the face before turning around again.

'no. _Now _I'm done,' she said as she walked away.

--

Oz watched as Yoon checked the now awake young girl over.

'can you tell me your name, sweetie?' Yoon asked.

From the entrance to the infirmary tent, Sammy smirked. She tried so hard to act innocent.

'Lucy,' the girl said softly. 'Lucille. Lucille Mercier,' she corrected herself.

'Lucy,' Yoon repeated. 'I'm Yoon-Cha Paik,' she introduced.

'nice to meet you, Yoon-Cha Paik,' she said.

Yoon smiled. This girl was cute. 'you can call me Yoon,' she told her. She looked over her shoulder.

'and this is Oz Geller,' she told the girl. 'he's the one that saved you.'

'what about my mom?' she asked. Oz and Yoon looked at each other. 'and Flick? And Mindy? Where are they?'

Yoon turned back to Lucy. 'I don't know.'

--

Back on the beach, Hurley and Roxy both sat down on either side of Aryel.

'can I help you?' she asked them.

'you should apologize,' Roxy said.

'to Charlie,' Hurley added.

'for yesterday.'

'you were a bit angry.'

'it wasn't fair.'

'especially not to him, dude.'

Aryel looked at them, amused. The two of them were some kind of two person comedy act. Going back and forward as if they had rehearsed it. Which they probably had. It really wouldn't surprise her.

'say that again,' she said.

'Aryel,' Roxy said.

'okay, okay, I'll apologize to him. God,' she muttered.

--

'Hayden,' Gus said, following her across the Barracks.

'I need to play my guitar right now, and then I can talk,' she said angrily.

He jogged to catch up to her just as she walked into Harper.

'fucking Hell,' Hayden muttered angrily as she continued, only hearing Harper mutter something about blind people on the island.

Gus followed Hayden. 'Hayden-'

'just don't,' she said.

'I can he-'

'don't you dare finish that sentence, Angus,' she said. 'after all, why bother trying to help me? I'm just a blind girl who can't do anything at all, according to these people.'

'you shouldn't worry about reputation. Worry about-'

'character, not reputation. Character is who you are. Reputation is who people think you are,' she finished for him. 'I know. You say it often enough.'

'just because you never listened,' he smiled at her.

She stopped and turned to him. 'it's my best friend's birthday today. She's thirty. And I can't even tell her happy birthday. I hate this island, Gus.'

'I know you do,' he said, hugging her. 'I know you do.'

--

'why did you want to see me, Josephine?' Kat asked as they carried Nemo through the jungle.

'I wanted to ask you something. There's a woman in camp,' she said, watching her mother closely. 'she seems familiar for some reason.'

Yes, her mother did tense up. It wasn't just her imagination.

'and…?' Kat asked.

'she also has a picture of her birth mother when she was pregnant with her. That woman is you.'

'I don't hear a question in there,' Kat said.

'do you have another daughter?'

'no.'

'don't lie to me. I've seen the evidence.'

'as far as I'm concerned, I only have one child.'

'okay, then did you give birth to another child?'

'that I did,' Kat said. She suddenly stopped and put her hands to her mouth, letting out a bird call.

'what are-' Josie began.

'you need something, Katarina?' a voice asked.

Josie whirled around to see a woman with unruly, long, dark hair and pale skin, a rifle in hand.

Josie looked at her mother and unconsciously took a step towards her.

'I did, Arlene,' Kat said.

'what do you need? And who is this?' she gestured to Josie.

Kat turned to her daughter. 'this is Arlene Scoresby, Josie. Arlene, this is Josephine Morel.'

'of course. Your second daughter. And how is your first? Still living a better life off island, no idea who her mother is?' it was common knowledge amongst Kat, Arlene, Cam, Richard, Gil, Lani and Ben that Arlene never believed Kat should have given her daughter up.

Kat narrowed her eyes. 'just take this man to the Barracks for me. You might see Lani along your way. She's rebelling again, for the third time in the last decade.'

'she's been her for several centuries, right? Well, time wouldn't mean anything to her. To her it could have been the third time in a month.'

'will you take this man?' Kat asked.

'only because I don't want to talk to you any longer,' she said bluntly. She picked up Nemo and left.

Josie tilted her head on the side and looked at Kat.

'she's an old Hostile,' Kat said.

'you called me Josie,' she smiled.

'wipe that smile off your face, Josephine,' Kat smirked.

Josie nodded. 'why'd you do it?'

'I was sixteen,' Kat said, knowing Josie was asking about Roxy.

'I'm seventeen and I wouldn't give up my child,' Josie said matter-of-factly.

Kat turned to her. 'are you-'

'I'm not pregnant,' Josie laughed. 'I'm just stating a fact.'

Kat looked at her. 'I'm sorry, Josephine,' she said softly. 'for what I said to you.'

'which time, mom?' Josie snapped, still not ready to forgive her for what she had said.

'Josie,' she warned. For Kat, Josie was what she called her when she wanted her to stop or she did something stupid. For Josie, mom was what she called her when she was pissing her off.

'I only asked to talk to you so I could figure out this Roxy thing,' Josie said. 'not our problems.'

'Roxy?' Kat asked.

'your daughter. Wow. Did you really forget her name?'

'her name is Rosanna Morel.'

'the girl on the beach changed her name from Rosanna to Roxanne. She's a tree hugger.'

'great. One of my daughters is a tree hugger and the other is a pain in the ass. How lucky am I?' she said sarcastically. The two had started walking back the way they had come.

'as opposed to the mother who wishes her daughter was dead?' Josie snapped back.

'if we continue, we will really insult each other severely,' Kat said. 'back to business. Who's on the list?'

'Claire Littleton is pregnant, so her and her baby. Yoon-Cha Paik is pregnant too, but only her baby will be on the list. She's a bad person.'

Kat wrote it down. 'Jack Shephard?'

'wounded hero complex. Personally, I would say no, but I think a maybe.'

'Katherine Austen?'

'criminal. As is Samuel Vance. Just wouldn't work out. Same with Petro Sokolov.'

'and his son? Luka? Have you talked to him?'

'no, I haven't,' she lied.

'so you haven't talked to him, but you've hugged him. Nicely done.'

'he's a yes. Is his sister alive?' Josie questioned.

'Akilina?' Josie nodded. 'she's dead now,' she lied. 'John Locke?'

The list got longer and longer as they listed off names.

'Rosanna?' Kat asked.

'she's your daughter. She's like us. Yes,' Josie said.

Kat smiled, relieved. 'her friend? Aryel?'

'no. no way in Hell. But the FBI agents are on the list. Same with Claire's brother.'

'and the Korean's?'

'no,' she paused. 'even if they're not on the list, most of them are good people, Kat.'

'I know, Josephine,' she smiled sympathetically. 'but you can't get too close to them.'

'meaning him?' she asked, talking about Luka.

'especially him. You'll be back soon enough. Don't get emotionally involved.'

'why'd he send me, Kat?'

'because you have potential to be like us, like me,' she answered honestly as they got ten meters until the beach. 'and you can handle it.'

Josie nodded and started walking back to the beach.

'Josephine!' Kat called out quietly.

Josie turned and looked at her, waiting.

Kat threw her a lighter. 'burn the picture on the passport and any relevant information, so they don't know.'

'will do,' Josie said. She turned and started walking again.

'Josephine,' Kat said again. Josie turned again. Kat through her two packets of cigarettes. 'you're in serious withdrawal.'

'thank you, Kat,' she smiled.

Josie walked onto the beach and Kat sighed. She really wanted her daughter out of danger.

--

_Several months had passed and Yoon still hadn't killed her husband, and her team was growing impatient. She couldn't kill him though. Yes, she could physically kill him if she wanted to, if she was that heartless, but the emotions that overcame her every time she tried were too much to bear._

_So she hadn't killed him._

_Yoon sighed and walked inside her apartment._

'_Ryan?' she called out. When she didn't get a reply, she shrugged, and threw her keys on the table followed by her handbag. _

_She started walking to the kitchen for a glass of water when she stopped and frowned. Upside down on the ground was a photo frame. She bent down and picked up the frame to see the glass smashed over her wedding photo. She sighed and placed it on a table before continuing to the kitchen._

_In the door of the kitchen, she stopped short and screamed when she took in the sight._

'_no!!' she shrieked, tears rolling down her cheeks when she saw Ryan on the ground, a bullet through his head, a small pool of blood seeping around him._

_She rushed over and knelt down next to him. She had seen so much death in her life and had grown immune to it. But this was perhaps the cleanest she had seen, but still the most horrible._

_She leaned down and kissed his head as she took off his wedding ring. With what she had planned, she realized she needed his ring to keep her going._

'_I love you,' she whispered. And it was true. She had kidded herself for years, saying that she was using him to get trusted by people, but it wasn't true. She did love him._

_She stood up and went over to her study and unlocked a drawer on her desk, producing two guns._

_She picked up the wedding photo from the smashed frame and walked to the door, only one thing on her mind._

_She was going to kill them for this._

--

Yoon and Sammy stood in the entrance to the infirmary, watching the memorial.

Claire, Jason, Hurley and Max were standing out the front, taking charge of the memorial.

Jack was standing close to Yoon and Sammy, but he had trusted Yoon to look after the injured. Mistake number one.

Michael and Walt were standing with Maya and Deniz as well as Oz and Lucy, who was his like his own personal little shadow. She was crying. Aryel walked over to Charlie, and in the light of the fire, Yoon could just make out the words forming on Aryel's mouth. Something about being sorry for the day before.

Kate was standing in between Sawyer and Sayid, obviously not going to move and leave the two of them there by themselves. Sun and Jin were standing near them.

Michelle was shaking with sobs from next to Rose.

Roxy was standing with Laura, Jennifer, Shannon and Boone, with Locke a few minutes away from them.

Josie sidled up to Luka and Petro both with no expression on their faces.

'got the knife?' Yoon asked Sammy as she watched the memorial.

'Kallirroe Mellas,' Claire said. 'she was from Los Angeles. Looked like she travelled a lot…as far as I can tell from her passport.'

'right here,' Sammy produced a knife from his pocket. 'there was a case of a couple hundred. Figured we only needed the one.'

She smiled and took it from his hand. 'gamsahamnida,' she said.

'and that means…?'

'thank you,' she explained.

'I'll keep that away for a time when I will really need it,' he said sarcastically.

She smiled again and entered the tent. He looked through the tent flap and watched as Yoon kneeled down next to the Marshal and pulled back the bandages on his stomach. She carefully moved two stitches apart and moved the knife there.

'what are you going to do?' Sammy asked.

'Jesus Christ,' she said. 'I'm about to put my knife in this guy, and you want to ask how I'll do it? Not to mention if I'm distracted I could ruin it and it will be obvious what we're doing.'

'okay,' he nodded.

She put the knife to the hole in the stitches and put it in his cut. She dug the knife in deeper and twisted it slightly, but so it wouldn't make the cut wider on the outside. She moved it a bit more until she felt the Marshal stop breathing and she felt his heart stop.

She slowly took the knife out and rearranged the stitches before putting the bandages back in place.

She walked over to Sammy and passed him the bloody knife.

'he's dead,' she said.

She started walking past him but he grabbed her arm.

'you do this for a living, Paik?' he asked her softly.

'do you?' she asked.

'what?'

'I've seen your mug shot,' she said. 'I saw the excited look in your eyes as I started to kill him. You're sick and twisted.'

'says the woman who just killed a man,' he retorted. 'I know people like you. Emotionally detached.'

'you don't know anything about me,' she hissed.

'oh, really?' he asked.

'really,' she said softly. She was looking right into his eyes and she noticed that they were nearly black. Wait. Why had she even noticed this?

He was looking straight into her eyes and if this was someone else and the surge of electricity that ran through him was because of someone else, he would have kissed her. But he was the reason that she was now a widow of only a few days.

So he wouldn't kiss her.

He would walk away.

--

'uh, Aki,' Max tried to say. 'Akalina? It's hard to say and see. Her last name was burnt off.'

'her name is Akilina Sokolovna,' Luka's voice rang across the group. 'she's my sister.'

'was,' Petro said in Russian. 'was your sister.'

'piss off,' Luka snarled. 'she was my best friend. She wanted to be a doctor. She was a good person.'

And with those few words, Luka turned and walked away from the group.

--

Ten minutes had passed since Yoon had killed the Marshal. She had waited for ten minutes so Jack wouldn't get too suspicious of Sammy leaving and then finding out that the Marshal was dead.

She walked over to Jack.

'Jack,' she said urgently. 'the man with the shrapnel in his stomach…'

'what is it?' he asked, making his way over.

'stop,' she said. He turned to her. 'I went over to check on him and… he must have died in his sleep. Peacefully.

'what?' he asked. He ran to the tent, Yoon following at a walk, hoping that Jack wouldn't be able to tell what had really happened.

--

_Yoon walked down the familiar hallway, a woman on a mission. She was going to kill them. She didn't even care that Hana and Kyung now had a three week old son, she wanted revenge. She didn't really give a damn that she was about to make a beautiful baby boy an orphan, because really, it was his parents fault._

_Yoon knocked twice and raked her fingernails against the door and opened it, before putting her hands into her jacket pockets, her hands tightening around her two guns._

'_Good evening, Yoon-Cha,' Chin smiled at her, from his place next to Hana._

'_it's far from good, Chin,' she said in an harsh and icy voice. She took the two guns out and aimed at the man and woman. Before they could even react, they were dead on the floor._

_She heard a sound and Kwan and Kyung ran out of another room, their guns drawn._

'_what the-' Kwan began, but couldn't finish. For he, along with Kyung, was dead before he hit the ground._

_Another sound and Cho ran out. 'Yoon! What are you doing?' she demanded._

'_this is called revenge, Cho,' she said icily._

'_you are so much like your mother,' Cho said softly, not even bothering to try to defend herself._

_And Cho also fell, a bullet in her head._

_Yoon had no remorse left in her after her husband's death._

_So, yes. She was just like her mother._

--

Early the next morning, on the other side of the island, they did a head count.

They had lost six of them. Six.

Jessica, Flick, Emma, Zach, Dom and Warren.

Induala and Melinda were targeted but Lucian had protected them along with Constance.

'where's my sister?' Melinda asked Induala.

'I'm sorry, sweetheart,' Induala said to her. 'I don't know.'

'we need to get moving,' Ana Lucia announced.

Akilina sighed and looked out across the sea, wondering if Luka was still alive.

--

'get your bloody hands off me!' Flick exclaimed as she was pushed in a cage an hour after dawn, right after Dom. She had briefly seen Warren being led somewhere else, and had seen the three children taken to yet another place.

She was ignored and the woman closed the cage and locked it before walking away.

'Felicity?'

Flick and Dom turned in surprise and saw that across from them there was another cage with three women in it.

Flick's eyes widened when she saw Eva. 'mom?' she smiled. 'you're alive.'

Eva smiled. 'of course I am. Are Lucy and Mindy?'

'Mindy is okay, but Lucy… she's…' she trailed off, struggling for words.

Eva nodded, tears coming to her eyes.

Liliana got up from her spot on the ground and hugged Eva.

'I was hoping, that if you were alive that Lucy was with you,' Flick said, also with tears coming down her cheeks.

'I was hoping she was with you,' Eva said.

Dom looked at Flick pityingly, who was now shaking with sobs. He cautiously walked over and put an arm around her shoulder. She turned and cried into his shoulder for a good ten minutes or so.

She turned her head slightly and looked at her mother. 'mom, this is Dom,' she said.

'hi,' Eva said to Dom.

'hey,' he said.

'Felicity,' Eva began.

'I wish you'd just call me Flick,' she interrupted.

'Felicity,' Eva repeated. 'this is Kallirroe and Liliana.'

'hi,' Liliana spoke softly to them.

'I know that's Felicity,' Killy said. 'we were in the same place, remember?' she asked rhetorically.

'hey, check it out,' she added, looking out the cage. 'angry blind one's coming back.'

Eva and Liliana looked and sure enough, Hayden was walking over, with Gus next to her, the two of them talking.

'I will kill her,' Hayden hissed, referring to Esther.

'like I said, homicidal tendencies,' he told her.

The two walked past the cages, completely ignoring the captives.

'so, if I look like I'm going to murder someone, just make sure I calm down,' she said.

At that last line, Dom's head snapped up and he looked after the two in shock.

'am I hallucinating, or can the rest of you see a short blonde girl there?' he called out.

Hayden stopped and turned. 'well, I for one can't see it, so I think you're hallucinating,' she said, a smile growing on her face. 'why'd you get on that plane, Dominic?'

'I have a better question. Why are you here?' he asked.

'because I am,' she said simply, taking her keys out of her pocket and searching through them, trying to find the one for the cages.

'we thought we'd never see you again, Hayden,' Dom said.

'I know I'll never see you,' she pointed out. 'I'm sorry I never came back, or even contacted you.'

'yeah, well, this was always your style. Leave and don't come back.'

'I wanted to,' she said. 'I actually wanted to come back and see my family, Dom. You especially.' She sighed in defeat and passed the keys to Gus, when she couldn't figure out which one opened the cages.

He found the right one and opened the cage for her.

'thanks,' she said. She walked inside and hugged her younger brother.

'I missed you, Dominic,' she said. 'so, so much.'

'I missed you too, Hayden,' he said. 'so, so much.'

--

Lars Entesano was sitting at a table on a beach in Hawaii, watching the girl surf. She was as good as they said. As he partly watched the girl, he researched on the best positions for a helicopter pilot on his laptop.

'what you doing, Lars?' an exotic younger woman asked, sitting down next to him. He looked at the woman who had lived next to him for years, and been friends with him for years.

'as always, you please the eyes,' he said to her.

'okay, for once we're going to talk like I'm not a woman, and you're not a sex-crazed man. Got it?'

'whatever you say, Dollface.'

'what are you doing?' she asked, gesturing to the laptop.

'getting a job, Abby,' he answered, abiding by her guidelines just as the girl he had been watching walked towards them from the water, her surfboard under her arm.

'Maleah, you're supposed to be ready!' the other girl, Abby, exclaimed.

'what part of Leah, don't you get, Abegaila?' she asked her older sister.

'obviously the same part that you don't get with Abby,' she said.

'ladies, let's all calm down,' Lars told them, an amused look on his face. 'and talk about the job I'm going to get.'

'what job's that?' Leah asked looking over his shoulder. 'pilot for Charles Widmore's freighter? Hate to break it to you, babe, but that position has already been taken.'

'and how would you know this?' he asked.

'I'm on the freighter, along with Abby here,' she said. She had an amused look on her face, which had only appeared when she saw his shocked look.

'I will get that job, Nina,' he said, positive that he would.

'I'm sure you will,' Abby said. 'with that charm of yours.'

'you know it, babe,' he said to her, winking.

She rolled her eyes at him. 'you seem so sure of yourself,' she said. 'why don't you put your money where your mouth is?' she asked.

'I'll give you my car if I don't get it,' he said.

'Deal. I'll give you my LA apartment if you do,' she said.

'Deal,' he said, sure that he would win.

Leah looked in between them, both of them so sure.

She couldn't wait to see who was right.

--

**So hope you liked it.**

**Okay, so I'm doing NaNoWriMo this month, so updates will be rare. Well…rarer than usual. **

**Oh, and I will literally drop off the face of…well, not the planet. The internet! Yes. That works. As I am going away from the 8****th**** to the 13****th****.**

**Oh, and check out the poll on my authors page. It's important!**

**Oh, and I need some more MALE Others and Freighties please!**


	9. Hiding Somewhere In the Dark

**Hey. Here's the next chapter. It's Aryel centric. Enjoy! I don't own Lost.**

'what the Hell are you doing?'

Yoon looked up at Sammy and held up a passport.

'what do you think?' she asked. 'if I burnt it a bit, could I pass as her?'

Sammy shook his head in disbelief. 'despite the fact that you are obviously Asian and she is African American, she is clearly in her thirties, and you are clearly not, I'd say sure. You can definitely pass as a –' he looked at the passport properly. '–thirty-four year old African American who is not pregnant. Whose name is Liliana Mkhize.' His words were drenched in sarcasm. He obviously could not believe what she wanted to do.

Yoon's eyes narrowed. 'what about this one?' she showed another.

'you could pass for a nineteen year old American called Serena Ashling, no problem,' once again he said it sarcastically. 'she's shorter then you though. Who would've thought that was possible?' he asked. She hit him on the arm.

'this one?' she asked, picking up another. She was getting angrier by the minute.

'that's Aryel,' he said matter-of-factly.

'this one?' she picked up another.

'and that one's Kate.'

'this one?' it was clear to him that she wasn't actually looking at the pictures anymore, she was just determined to find one that he wouldn't criticise.

'ooh, Ana Lucia Cortez. A cop. Can't you just see the irony?'

'this?'

It went on and on, Sammy becoming increasingly impressed she had found so many passports, and Yoon becoming increasingly pissed off at him.

'this?'

'and now we're back to the start,' he said. 'you could just use your own.'

'no. I'm going towards the CEO of whatever it was,' Yoon said. The CEO was a Japanese woman who was around her height and whose name was Keiko Yoshida.

'okay then. I've got a question, Yoon.'

'what is it?'

'does your sister know about your real life?' he asked her.

Yoon stood up abruptly and started walking away with the passport.

'it's just a question!' he yelled after her. 'does she?'

'toejora!' she called over her shoulder.

'what does that mean?' he called after her.

'go to Hell!'

--

'what do you mean there's no more food?!'

The shrill voice of Shannon filled the air, and everyone in camp turned towards where she was standing with Boone, Jack, Sayid and Oz.

'what?' Laura asked. Looking around, she saw everyone else asking the same question.

'Okay everybody, just calm down,' Jack said.

'We can find food,' Sayid added.

'and how are we going to do that, Mohammed?' Sawyer asked.

A knife was thrown and hit the seat next to Sawyer. Everyone turned to where it was thrown from. Locke was there.

'We hunt,' he said.

--

Max jogged across the beach to where Maya was.

'hey, Maya,' he said.

'Max,' she nodded, not paying any attention to him. She was sharpening a knife. She was going with Locke, by the looks of it.

'that woman's still sitting down over there,' he nodded his head down the beach to the spot where Michelle was sitting.

'and I suppose you think this is my problem,' she said.

'well, no, but-'

'she just lost her wife. Let her be alone for awhile,' Maya said, standing up and walking away, to where Deniz was with Walt and Michael.

'But, why can't I come?' Walt was asking Michael.

'Because I said so,' Michael answered.

'your parenting skills are….interesting,' Maya said.

At that moment Yoon and Sun walked past, carrying plants.

'Hi, hi, excuse me,' Michael said to them. 'Um, I am going off, away, to hunt, and um, I was wondering if you could keep an eye on my boy, Walt. And, I'm Michael. Anyway, could you watch him for me, until I come back?' he asked, complete with hand gestures.

Sun said something in Korean followed by Yoon saying something else.

'Sorry I don't understand, but you're cool with this, right?' he asked, giving her the okay sign with his hand. Sun nodded and repeated the gesture. Michael said good-bye to Walt and walked off.

'I thought you speak English?' Maya asked Yoon.

'I do,' she said. 'I found it hilarious though.'

'okay, well can you also look after Deniz for me?' she asked.

'I don't need a babysitter, Chachi,' Deniz said defiantly.

'funny thing, Deniz,' Maya said. 'I think you do.'

Deniz scowled as Maya left.

--

'_I don't know what's going on with you, Aryel,' Aryel's father, Eric, said, giving her a disapproving look. 'we move you from one school because you fought with that Austen girl and the Brennan boy, and then you don't go to your new school. Why?'_

'_have you seen the clones at that school, dad?' a fourteen year old Aryel asked. 'you've got the leader of them all, some bleach blonde tramp, and her army of skanky little followers.'_

'_Aryel! I'm sure they're perfectly lovely girls. They might be really nice. You should get to know them.'_

'_yeah, I'll be sure to do that,' Aryel said sarcastically. 'oh, wait, I can't do that, now can I? They can't string two words together unless it's "he's hot". Usually talking about that singer from that band, Criminal, but really, I don't see what the Hell the fuss is over him.'_

'_so you don't want to go to the all girls school?' Eric asked her._

'_no!' she exclaimed. _Finally _he was getting it._

'_well, that's good, because we're moving to Toronto, Aryel,' he smiled at her._

_Aryel gave him a look. 'Toronto?' she raised an eyebrow._

'_yes! You'll like it there, I know you will.'_

'_somehow I doubt that, dad,' Aryel's brother, Joshua, said._

_Aryel gave her dad another look and went upstairs to her room._

_Seriously? Toronto? Of all places._

_Aryel sat down and started writing from where she left off._

So he's decided to ruin my life.... _she wrote. _

--

Max walked up to Jack as a last resort; he had talked to another five people after Maya, and they had all said the same. Give Michelle time. But he thought differently.

'That woman's been sitting over there by herself,' Max said to Jack, gesturing to Michelle. 'Maybe she's having trouble dealing with her wife? I don't think she's had anything to eat or drink. Think maybe you can go talk to her?'

'Why me? I'm not a psychiatrist,' Jack said. Max frowned. Out of everyone, he assumed Jack would want to talk to her.

'okay then,' he said, walking away to find someone else.

Maybe Hurley…

--

'you have got to be kidding me,' Jason said, an amused look on his face.

Claire and Jennifer looked between Laura and Jason, wondering who would be the first to insult the other.

'oh, I'm not,' Laura said.

'they just left fifteen minutes ago, and you choose _now _to decide you want to go too?' Jason said.

'yeah, pretty much,' she said.

'and why are you even telling me this?' he asked.

'well, I saw you hunting yesterday,' she said. 'you're good.'

'I know,' he said.

'your modesty astounds me,' she said.

'oh, so you don't want me to come?' he said. 'go by yourself then.'

'okay,' she said. 'when I get killed by whatever's out there, I hope you feel bad.'

'I'll shed a tear for you,' he said.

'much appreciated.'

He rolled his eyes. 'give me a knife,' he said, standing up.

She threw a knife up in the air for him to catch and it almost hit Claire until he got it.

'nice. Almost kill me pregnant sister, why don't you?' he said as they walked away.

Jennifer and Claire watched as they walked away, still bickering.

Claire turned to Jennifer. 'I'm proud of them. They managed not to name call.'

'yeah, I know, right?' Jennifer said.

--

Yoon was sitting in the infirmary, carefully burning the passport photo as she kept an eye on the man with the burns, James or something.

She stopped burning the passport when she heard a groan from the man.

She quickly put out the flame, and turned to the man.

He slowly opened his eyes.

'where am I?' he muttered. 'what happened?'

Yoon picked up a small light and spoke. 'we're on an island. Our plan crashed. Now could you just follow this light with your eyes?' she asked. He complied, and she checked his pupils.

'you don't seem to have a concussion,' Yoon said. 'could you tell me your name?'

He looked at her for a minute.

'we know your first name is James, but we don't know your last name…' she trailed off. 'do you?'

'no…'he confessed. 'I have no idea who I am.'

--

'so Blondie got herself a lighter.'

Josie looked up at Luka as she flicked her new lighter on and off.

'question or statement?' she asked.

'statement,' he said, taking the lighter out of her hand and lighting his cigarette before passing it back to her.

'you shouldn't waste all your cigarettes,' she said. 'we don't know how long we're going to be here for,' she added, trying to hide a smirk. Yes, _they _didn't know how long they would be there for, but Josie knew it would be a long, long time.

'how many packs you got, Josie?' Luka asked.

'one and a half,' she said. 'you?'

'three. So four and a half packs between us. That won't last long, the rate we go.'

'so we need to cut back for awhile,' Josie said. 'have only a few a day.'

'Or....' Luka trailed off.

'Or....?' Josie asked.

'I hear Sawyer's been hoarding stuff, and I've seen him smoking,' he smirked.

'see, this is why we get along so well,' Josie smirked back.

--

Jenny jogged up to Kate.

'hey, Kate, right?' she asked.

'yeah, and you're Jennifer?' Kate asked her.

'yeah. Where's Jack?'

'I don't know. He ran off this morning, trying to find something,' Kate explained to her. 'why?'

'Nemo's gone,' Jenny said.

'who?'

'you know, Nemo, tall, dark hair, blue eyes, I don't reckon he's smiled yet.'

'oh, yeah, that guy. He'll be okay. It looks like he can take care of himself.'

'Kate, I don't think you get this,' Jenny said. 'he disappeared last night, before the memorial service, and hasn't been seen since by anyone. He's gone.'

'he'll be okay,' Kate said. 'he's probably on his way back.'

--

'I'll kill you,' Nemo said coldly.

'I'm sure you will,' Esther said, closing the cage so that he was now with Dom and Flick.

'I will get out of this cage and I will kill each and every one of you,' he said.

'I cannot wait,' Esther walked away, rolling her eyes. Seriously. The threats she got from these people.

'hi,' Flick said. 'I'm Flick. What's your name?'

'Nemo,' he said shortly.

'Nemo?' she raised an eyebrow. 'like the fish in Finding Nemo?'

'Flick?' he asked. 'like the bug in a Bug's Life?'

--

'okay, seriously, Max,' Boone said in exasperation. 'if you are so concerned about the woman, go and talk to her yourself!'

Boone had been about the third person Max had talked to.

He had then been the ninth.

And then the thirteenth.

And now as the eighteenth, it was getting old.

'I don't know what to say to her!' Max exclaimed.

'funny that, no one knows what to say either!' Boone exclaimed. 'go talk to her.'

Max sighed and looked over at Michelle sitting down the beach, looking out to sea.

--

_A fifteen year old Aryel paced up and down the hospital, holding the tissue she had used to wipe her tears in her hands._

_She heard a rush of feet and arms gripped her shoulders._

'_Ary!' her brother, Dillon, exclaimed. 'what's going on? Have they told you anything?'_

'_no, they haven't.'_

'_you sure?'_

'_I think I'd know if they mentioned something, Dillon!' Aryel's voice was shrill, much higher than it usually was._

'_family for Eric Demaree?' a younger Doctor Jack Shephard asked, walking into the room._

_Dillon and Aryel rushed over. 'what happened?' Aryel asked. 'is he okay?'_

'_your father suffered massive internal injuries,' Jack told them. 'there was too much damage, and....'_

'_oh God,' Aryel said softly._

'_...he didn't make it. I'm sorry for your loss,' Jack said._

_Dillon wrapped his arms around his younger sister, but Aryel wasn't crying now._

_Ten minutes passed in silence before it was broken._

'_family for Bridget Demaree?' a Doctor, Olivia Piersol, asked, walking in._

'_yes!' Dillon exclaimed, dragging Aryel after him over to her. 'she's our sister!'_

'_well, Mr Demaree-'_

'_Dillon,' he said._

'_Dillon,' Olivia repeated. 'your sister, she suffered a concussion and then went unconscious. She also needed surgery to fix a collapsed lung that was pierced by glass in the crash, and in that surgery, her brain began to swell, and we couldn't get it down again. Your sister didn't make it. I'm sorry,' she said._

_Once again, Dillon wrapped his arms around Aryel, and once again she didn't cry._

_Another ten minutes passed._

'_family for Joshua Demaree?'_

_Dillon and Aryel looked at each other._

'_you didn't tell me he was in the car too!' Dillon exclaimed._

'_I didn't know he was in the car!' she exclaimed._

_They walked over to Doctor Esther Sahin, who began speaking. 'it seems Mr Demaree was driving while under the influence of alcohol-'_

'_he was driving?' Aryel asked. No. Why would her father let an intoxicated Joshua drive?_

'_well, of course he was,' Esther said, surprised. 'He was the only one in the car. He crashed into another car, with a father and daughter in it.'_

'_did the father and daughter make it?' Dillon asked, realizing something._

'_no, sadly they suffered from internal injuries,' Esther said. 'now, your brother was also not wearing his seatbelt, and he went through the windscreen. I'm sorry, but Joshua died on impact.'_

_Aryel and Dillon looked at each other._

_Their brother caused their father and sister to die too._

--

Max slowly walked down the beach towards Michelle. He wasn't even aware of the fact that he now had an audience watching him, mostly everyone who he had asked to talk to Michelle.

He sat down next to the mourning woman.

'Hi. Michelle, right?' Max said. The woman didn't reply, and Max continued. 'my name's Max. I just wanted to see if you're okay. We're all pretty worried about you, Michelle. Here,' he said, putting a bottle of water and a mango next to her. 'you have to take care of yourself, so you need to eat and drink.'

Michelle still didn't reply, she just watched the waves crash against the beach.

'okay. We don't have to talk, Michelle. We can just sit here,' he said.

So Michelle and Max sat there.

--

'great job, genius,' Jason snapped. He now knew it was official. They were lost. And it was obviously Laura's fault.

'I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure I was the one that wanted to go the other way,' Laura said. 'and I'm sorry that you've got an ego so big that you can't admit it's your fault.'

'on the bright side, princess, at least you, the bitch who can apparently track, can get us out of here, or at least find a boar,' he snapped.

'oh, so you move back to _this _because you can't find a sufficient comeback! Bloody Hell you are-'

The rest of her sentence was cut off by a loud metallic screech, the same one as the one they heard the first night. It was behind them.

Laura and Jason looked at each other in horror and turned around.

There was a cloud of black smoke behind them.

'oh Hell,' Laura said.

Jason grabbed her hand and they ran the other way.

--

'seriously, Michael,' Maya said as she helped him back to camp. 'who gets trampled by a boar?'

Michael was saved from answering as they came upon the beach and everyone looked at them, Michael's leg bloody.

'dad!' Walt yelled, running over. 'Your leg's all messed up. Does it hurt?'

'It's okay. It's not as bad as it looks,' Michael assured him.

'it looks like when my Chachi, Ayla, was hit by a car. It went infected and she almost died,' Deniz said matter-of-factly.

'Deniz!' Maya exclaimed in exasperation.

'what?' she asked innocently.

'you are definitely Devika's daughter,' Maya muttered.

--

Yoon was sitting down, suitcases surrounding her. She was getting increasingly pissed off; she couldn't find any practical clothes that were big enough for her to wear, seeing as she was pregnant and had lost her suitcase.

Claire walked over to her.

'You haven't found a hairbrush in there, have you?' Claire asked her.

'No. Sorry,' Yoon said, not really looking up as she searched for clothes.

'I must have looked through 20 suitcases. I can't find one. It's weird, right? You'd think that everyone packs a hairbrush.'

'weird,' Yoon nodded. 'hey, have you found your case yet?'

'yeah, Jason found it the other day for me,' Claire nodded.

'could I borrow some clothes? It's just that I can't find my case, and I need clothes that I can fit into and seeing as you're the only other pregnant woman...'she trailed off.

'sure,' Claire said. 'help yourself. It's right...over....there,' she said faintly, as she pointed across the beach to where she had been sleeping.

Yoon stood up. 'you alright?' she asked Claire in concern.

'yeah, it's just the heat. Oh, and, and I'm pregnant,' Claire said.

Yoon nodded, unsure. Suddenly Claire swayed and Yoon only just caught her before she hit the ground.

'hey!' Yoon yelled out. 'I need some help over here!'

Jenny, Sammy, Walt and Charlie ran over.

'Charlie, take her to the infirmary,' Yoon said urgently, passing Claire to Charlie, who started to walk to the infirmary. 'Walt, go find Jack,' Yoon instructed.

Walt ran off, to go find him.

'Sammy, go find Petro too,' Yoon added. She realized that they might need another doctor.

Sammy nodded and ran off too.

Jenny and Yoon followed Charlie to the infirmary.

'shit,' Yoon murmured.

'you okay?' Jenny asked in concern. Her concern was well placed, seeing as the other pregnant girl had just collapsed.

'yes, I'm fine, Jenny,' Yoon said. 'I just remembered something.'

'what?'

'Jason,' Yoon sighed. 'go and find Jason!'

--

Jason and Laura were standing in between a small bamboo forest, so close they could feel each other's hearts beating, fast.

They were looking around, trying to see if the smoke was close. They also tried to listen for it, but they couldn't hear it either.

Suddenly it passed close by.

'are we gonna die here, Jason?' Laura breathed in Jason's ear, for she was that close.

'not a chance, Laura,' he tried to reassure her.

She smiled. 'you used my name.'

'you used mine,' he pointed out.

--

'I'm sorry, but are you saying that you have no idea where Jack is?' Yoon asked from her place next to Claire. Charlie and Hurley were standing to her side, giving her space.

Kate had raced to the infirmary when she heard Claire had collapsed, and she was now trying to explain that Jack was gone and hadn't been seen for hours.

'yes, I am,' Kate sighed. Seriously, they acted like she was his handler or something.

'well, how do you know he just didn't go to get fruit or something?' Yoon asked, knowing he hadn't.

'he's not back yet,' Kate repeated. 'it doesn't take four hours to get fruit.'

Sammy jogged into the infirmary.

'Petro's getting fruit. He's in the jungle,' Sammy informed them.

'great,' Yoon murmured. She looked past Sammy, to where Jenny and Boone had just entered the infirmary. 'well?'

'we tried to find Jason, but he's not here. He went hunting with Laura a few hours ago, and they're not back yet,' Jenny explained.

'where's Jack?' Boone asked.

'not here,' Yoon said. 'he's in the jungle.'

'wait,' Boone said. 'so our doctor's in the jungle?'

'_one _of our doctors are,' Yoon said. 'well, three of them are. I am still here, however.'

'yeah, but you're-' Boone thought better than to finish his sentence, so cut himself off.

'I'm pregnant?' she asked, fire in her eyes. 'was that what you were going to say?'

'no, I-'

'I'm a woman?' she asked.

'no, I-'

'get out of this tent,' Yoon said, her voice calm, but her eyes on fire.

'I'm so-'

'I think you want to listen to her,' Sammy advised, remembering her ever so calculated murder of the Marshal.

'I didn't-'

'Boone. Do you really want this to be the last thing you ever say?' Sammy asked him. 'if not, then leave.'

Boone sighed, not believing him, but left anyway.

'so, let's get this straight,' Yoon said. 'the spinal surgeon is in the jungle?' they all nodded. 'the medic from the army is in the jungle?' they nodded again. 'and the neurosurgeon is in the jungle?' they nodded again. 'Kate, Sammy, Jenny. Go find them and get them back here.'

'what?' they asked in unison.

'now!' she exclaimed.

The three nodded and left.

'Hurley, Charlie,' Yoon said. 'go and get the water.'

They didn't move, looking at her in awe that she could order people around so easily.

'do I have to yell 'now' to you too as well?' she asked them.

They left the tent at a jog.

Yoon sighed and looked at Claire.

That could've been her there.

--

'so how are we gonna be doing this?' Josie asked Luka. They were standing near Sawyer's tent, about to go in.

'well, Sawyer's up the other end of the beach, doing God knows what, but at least he's out of our way. We just go in, grab the cigarettes, and get out before he realizes,' Luka said.

'sounds like a plan,' Josie said.

The two walked closer to the tent and looked around; making sure no one saw them.

They went inside and started looking around for the cigarettes.

'check it out, Josie,' Luka said. 'tequila and vodka,' he added, picking up a handful of the small bottles.

'and the cigarettes,' Josie smiled, taking three out of the five packs. She figured Sawyer would try to kill them if they took all, so she left two. 'and lets go.'

Luka and Josie walked out of the tent to see Erica and Eli standing right in front of the tent.

'please do not tell me that you guys stooped that low,' Eli said.

'did you really just steal from Sawyer?' Erica added.

'yeah, I believe we did,' Luka shrugged.

'we'll buy your silence,' Josie said.

'money means nothing here,' Eli informed her.

'I know that,' she said. God, she had lived on this island for seventeen years, so she definitely knew that. 'do you guys drink or smoke?'

'no,' they said in unison.

'wanna start?' Luka and Josie asked at the same time.

--

Michael was in the infirmary, getting his leg wound cleaned and bandaged by Yoon when she heard her name.

'Yoon!' Hurley and Charlie were running across the beach, to the infirmary.

Yoon walked to the entrance of the infirmary, looking at them expectantly, waiting for them to pass her water. She then noticed there was none in their hands and she started worrying.

'what is it?' she asked the two men.

'the water,' Charlie puffed, regaining his breath.

'what about it?' she said, dread filling her.

'it's gone, Dude,' Hurley said.

'someone stole it,' Charlie added.

Yoon let out a string of curse words in her native language, her accent slipping slightly into her natural Northern dialect. She regained her composure quickly, and her accent straightened out into South Korean.

Charlie and Hurley exchanged a look, wondering if that was normal, her accent changing.

'okay,' Yoon said. 'find me....Sayid, Locke, Oz and Aryel. Oh, and Roxy.'

Charlie and Hurley nodded, wondering why those people.

--

Ten minutes later, in the entrance to the infirmary, Sayid, Locke, Oz, Aryel, Yoon and Roxy were speaking. Charlie, Michael, Hurley and Lucy were sitting with Claire.

'where is the doctor?' Locke asked.

'no one knows where _Jack _is,' Yoon said. It was continually pissing her off that he was the only one acknowledged as a doctor.

'and we have no more water?' Sayid asked.

'none,' Charlie said from next to Claire.

'can one of you guys go into the jungle and find some fresh water?' Yoon asked Locke, Sayid, Aryel, Oz and Roxy.

'I'll go. I know where to look,' Locke said before walking into the jungle.

'Roxy, Oz, how are you with the sight of blood?' Yoon asked.

'fine, I guess,' Oz said.

'yeah, fine,' Roxy nodded.

'I need one of you to bandage Michael's leg, and the other to re-bandage James's leg, arm and chest.'

'he's awake?' Roxy asked.

'he has amnesia,' Yoon said. 'can the two of you do this?'

They nodded and Roxy walked over to James while Oz walked over to Michael.

'Sayid, Aryel, Charlie,' Yoon said. 'can you see if anyone's got water?'

The three nodded and left.

'Hurley, take Lucy away from all this,' she added.

'what about you? What are you gonna do?' he asked.

'I need to stay with Claire. I need to make sure her and her baby's fine,' she said.

--

'do you have water?' Aryel asked Shannon.

'no, why-'

Aryel pushed past her to Scott and Steve.

'do you have water?'

'no,' one of them said.

'w-' the other began, but she also pushed past them.

She walked over to Maya and Deniz.

'do you have water?'

'no,' Maya said.

'why?' Deniz asked.

'so many questions, so little time, Sunshine,' Aryel said, walking away to where Eli, Erica, Luka and Josie were walking down the other end of the beach.

'do you have water?' she asked them.

'no,' Luka said.

'we don't,' Josie said. 'do you?'

'why the Hell do you think I'm asking, Blondie?' Aryel snapped.

Aryel walked to the middle of the beach.

'attention, everyone!' she yelled across the beach. Some people turned to her, but most ignored her, remembering how bitchy she was. 'okay, yeah, so I'm a bitch, so I get that you don't want to listen!' she yelled. 'but this ain't about me! This is about the pregnant girl! Claire!' a few more people looked at her. 'yeah, that's right! So we're out of water!' people looked at each other in alarm and started talking. 'no, shut up! This is not about the fact that we have no water, we have a group of people out looking for some! This is about the fact that Claire is dehydrated, and needs water NOW!!! So if anyone has water, now's the time to give it up for the pregnant girl! If you've got it, and don't give it up now, someone's gonna get their ass kicked! You all got me?'

Everyone nodded and went through their supplies, everyone coming back with no water.

Until, from the other side of the beach, Michelle stood up, holding the quarter bottle of water that Max had given her. She walked over to the infirmary and silently handed it to Yoon.

Yoon smiled at Michelle and murmured a thank you before bowing her head. Michelle smiled weakly back and bowed back.

--

'Claire?' Yoon said as she walked into the infirmary.

'hmmm?' Claire, a half awake Claire at that, murmured.

'here's a bit of water,' Yoon said, putting the bottle to her lips. 'it's all we've got. Someone took the water.'

'thank you, Yoon,' Claire said.

'thank Michelle,' she smiled.

--

'_Aryel!'_

_An eighteen year old Aryel ignored her brother yelling through the door and continued typing the last paragraph of her latest book. She was proud of the fact that she was an eighteen year old girl about to get her third book published. _

'_Aryel!'_

Happiness. This was a feeling, right? Have I really forgotten? Can it be possible? I see many grinning faces each day, though I do not possess the ability to make this emotion my own. What does happiness feel like? I certainly do not know, and never will have the reason to feel this again.

'_Aryel!'_

_Aryel put down the pen, still ignoring her brother._

_She reached over and took – what was it actually? She had just asked Casey to supply her with something, she didn't ask what it was, mostly because she knew her father wouldn't approve whatever it was. He wouldn't approve of any of her choices of late. Any of the choices she had made since he died, actually. She was starting – well no, she had developed this habit years ago – to become self-destructive, asking a woman to supply her with unknown drugs. And then taking them. She truly was an idiot._

_Just thinking about this, Aryel thought maybe she shouldn't take it, whatever it was._

_On the other hand...._

_She reached over and took out the drugs._

_--_

'hey, Sayid, Aryel,' Hurley said. 'the Chinese people have water.'

Aryel and Sayid looked at each other and then Sun and Jin.

--

'Where did you get this?' Sayid was asking Sun, holding up the water bottle. She wouldn't answer. 'Where did you get this? Where did you-'

'shut up,' Aryel snapped to him. She took a notepad and pen out of her pocket and passed it to Sun. 'write it down.'

'that will accomplish nothing,' Sayid said.

'your forgetting her sister speaks English. She can translate,' she said. Sun was writing down some characters in Korean. After a minute she passed it back to Aryel.

'what is it that Yoon says?' Aryel asked. 'gansehanida?' she guessed, bowing.

'gamsahamnida,' Sun said, bowing back.

'yes, that,' Aryel smiled at her, although it was fake, and turned to Sayid. 'and that's how it's done,' she said to him, as she walked to the infirmary.

--

Yoon took one look at the paper.

'Sawyer. She got it from Sawyer,' she translated.

--

Erica started coughing.

'seriously, have you never smoked?' Josie asked.

'seems that way, I reckon, Jos,' Luka said, passing her his bottle of tequila and taking a long drag of his cigarette.

Erica and Eli could not understand how Josie and Luka could be professionals at smoking and drinking. As well as Erica coughing with the cigarette, Eli had coughed when he had too much vodka.

Josie reached over and took a cigarette from one of the packs. 'okay, so you're seventeen, right, Erica?'

'yeah...' Erica said.

'and Eli, you're sixteen?'

'yes,' he said.

'take a cigarette, Eli,' she said. She lit it for him and lit her own. 'Luka, do you want to teach the newbies how to smoke, or should I?'

'you teach them how to smoke, I'll teach them to drink,' he smirked.

'okay,' she shrugged.

'this should be entertaining,' Luka smirked.

--

'this is getting old, bitch,' Jason said.

'uh huh, you can say that again,' Laura said.

The two had gotten tired of running, and they had proceeded to climb a tree and wait a few hours, waiting to make sure it was actually gone.

'should we just go back to the beach?' Jason asked.

'probably,' she said.

Jason climbed down and jumped from a low branch to the ground. Laura followed and landed right in front of him. The two looked in each other's eyes and moved their heads closer to each others.

'this is brilliant,' the two of them heard a voice coming towards them, and they pulled apart.

A second later, Jenny, Kate and Sammy walked into the clearing.

'hey,' Jason said to them.

'God, you look like Hell,' Jenny said.

Jason and Laura looked at each other. They did actually look like Hell. In their attempts to get away from the monster, they had been scratched by branches, their clothes ripped a bit because of said branches, and they some dirt on their faces, and they had twigs and leaves in their hair.

'yeah, we do actually,' the two said in unison.

'so what's brilliant?' Jason added.

'Jack and Locke found water, they're just finding Petro now,' Kate said.

'I hate to think what would have happened to Claire if we didn't,' Jenny said.

'what happened to Claire?' Jason asked.

'she collapsed. And she's dehydrated,' Kate said. 'Yoon's looking after her.'

Jason nodded.

'we better keep going,' Sammy said. Sammy started leading the group. Jason and Laura were at the back.

'she'll be okay, Jason,' Laura said to him.

'she better be,' he muttered.

Laura grabbed his arm. 'stop,' she said to him. 'look at me. She. Will. Be. Okay.' She spoke the words slowly, as if trying to get through to him. 'Okay?' she said.

He slowly nodded. 'you have a twig in your hair, by the way,' he said, as he took a twig out of her hair.

The two started walking again and Jenny looked behind her at Laura and mouthed "What the Hell?" at her.

Laura smiled and shrugged.

--

Sawyer walked into the jungle, to where one of his stashes was. He took out some cigarettes he wasn't keeping in his tent. He was kneeling down to get them.

Sayid and Aryel walked into the clearing after him and Aryel kicked him square in the back of the head.

'Jesus, Buffy!' Sawyer exclaimed, turning around. ''bout time you got here.'

'where's the water?' Aryel asked.

'the question is, what am I getting for it?' he asked.

Aryel punched him in the face. 'no, the question is, where the Hell is the water?' she said.

'You really think I stole your damn water?' he asked as Sayid searched his stuff.

'yeah, we do,' Aryel said.

'We know you gave two bottles to the Koreans,' Sayid said.

'I don't give nothing to nobody,' Sawyer said.

'It's not here,' Sayid told Aryel.

'I traded Mr. Miyagi the last of my water for a fish he caught. We worked it out caveman style.'

'You gave him your last two bottles?' Aryel asked.

'Water has no value, Princess. It's gonna rain sooner or later. And Hell, I'm an optimist.'

Sawyer bent down to his suitcase and took something else out.

It was a book.

'so, Buffy, you wrote this book right?' he asked her. 'I've always wondered, is the main character meant to be you? Is it your autobiography or something?'

'give me that,' Aryel hissed, trying to grab it. He moved it away and she punched him several times before wrenching it out of his grip.

'hey, you forgot something,' he said. He threw her the Marshal's badge. 'seeing as you're the new sheriff in town. Might as well make it official.'

--

It had gone dark, and Claire was alone in the infirmary, sleeping.

Until someone came in with bottles of water.

'Hey, hey, Claire,' the man whispered, passing her a bottle.

'How did you get that?' Claire asked.

'that's a mighty fine question, don't you reckon, Oz?' Charlie asked from behind Boone.

'yeah, I got that impression too, Charlie,' Oz said.

Next thing Boone knew, Charlie pulled him out of the tent and he was knocked to the ground.

'here's your thief,' Charlie announced.

'I hope none of you object to this,' Yoon said, walking over and kicking him in the face. No one made a move to stop her; they all felt she had a right to. She had been taking care of Claire all day, dehydrated and pregnant herself, only to find out Boone had it all along. She went to kick him again, but suddenly flinched, or at least that's what it seemed like to the others.

'why'd you do it?' Oz asked.

'It was just sitting in the tent, and Jack just took off,' Boone tried to explain himself.

'Claire could've died,' a voice hissed. Despite the fact that it was quiet, it was filled with so much bitterness and malice that everyone heard it.

Jason was back.

Laura, Kate, Jenny and Sammy were behind him, waiting for whatever he was going to do.

He walked past everyone to where Boone was.

'I tried to give her some sooner,' he began.

'did you really?' Jason asked in a dangerous voice. 'if you really had, she would've gotten it straight away, when she first collapsed. But judging by the fact that you're getting your head smashed in, you didn't. So don't try to justify any of this, this is all on you,' Jason finished his small speech with punching Boone square in the jaw. Boone fell to the ground with the force of it and spat out blood. And a tooth.

Jason walked away, into the infirmary.

'so, Sawyer doesn't ha-' Aryel began, walking over with Sayid. 'what's going on?'

'Boone had it,' Yoon said.

'are you fucking serious?' she asked. She started making her way over to him, to hit him as he was getting up. Roxy and Sayid each grabbed an arm of hers, to stop her, just as she got to Boone.

Without thinking about what to do, or struggling to get out of their grip, she kicked Boone in the face, and he fell again.

'Leave him alone!' Jack exclaimed, walking onto the beach with Locke and Petro.

'back off, Jack!' Aryel and Yoon exclaimed. Out of everyone, bar Jason of course, they were the angriest.

'It's been six days and we're all still waiting,' he continued like they hadn't spoken. 'Waiting for someone to come. But what if they don't? We have to stop waiting. We need to start figuring things out. Roxanne almost drowned when we crashed, but he saved her, and now you're about to crucify him? We can't do this. Every man for himself is not going to work. It's time to start organizing. We need to figure out how we're going to survive here. Now, I found water. Fresh water, up in the valley. I'll take a group in at first light. If you don't want to go come then find another way to contribute. Last week most of us were strangers, but we're all here now. And god knows how long we're going to be here. But if we can't live together, we're going to die alone.'

Slowly, most people dispersed, leaving just Aryel, Yoon, Jack, Boone, Michelle, Laura, Jennifer, Kate and Petro.

'thanks for helping, Aryel,' Yoon muttered. 'with trying to find water.'

'no problem,' she murmured, walking away.

Boone glared after Aryel. Michelle helped him up and led him away. They sat down and she silently tended to his wounds.

Yoon looked at Jack and Petro.

'Jack, Petro, follow me,' she said to the two of them. She led them to the infirmary.

Jack gave Claire some water and then turned to Yoon.

'Jason, you listen to this too,' Yoon said. Jason, Jack and Petro all looked at her expectantly.

'look, I may be a good doctor, but you can't do this to me,' she said to them. 'there's only four doctors on this island. And three of them were out in the jungle today. I had to look after Michael, James, who is awake by the way with amnesia, Claire, her baby, make sure Lucy's wound didn't get infected, and keep an on anyone who got hurt, or was sick. And I am seven and a half months, almost eight months, pregnant, okay?' she said to them. 'do you know how draining pregnancy is? As much as I pretend otherwise, it's so hard to do normal stuff while pregnant. Also, what about the fact that I have lack of sleep and I was dehydrated too today? You don't know what it's like, but you can't do that to me. From now on, there has to be at least two doctors on this beach at all times. Preferably more. And seeing as I am pregnant, I probably shouldn't wander around the jungle, so it will be me and someone else. Oh, and I didn't even mention that I think I will give birth soon,' she said.

'what?' Petro asked.

'you're almost eight months pregnant,' Jack said.

'you still have another month,' Jason said.

'I felt four contractions today. All when I was highly stressed out about everything,' she told them. 'so be prepared for the very high possibility that I will give birth on this island. And soon. So you all have to be prepared. Okay?'

They all nodded.

'have any of you actually delivered a baby?' she asked.

They all shook their heads.

'well, won't this be a nice experience for you?' she smirked.

--

_Years later, Aryel was sitting in a hotel room, her pen poised to write. She had been sightseeing in Sydney for a week, to get the feel for a story she had in mind, but she didn't know how to start it._

_At that moment, the phone rang. She sighed and took it out of her bag._

'_what?' she sighed into it._

'_Ary!' a cheerful voice exclaimed. 'so I need help.'_

'_with what, Roxy?' Aryel sighed._

'_so, I'm kind of in jail and need you to bail me out,' she said._

'_again?' Aryel asked._

'_yeah...' Roxy said sheepishly._

'_well, I'm sorry, but I'm in Sydney. I'm too far away,' she said._

'_oh, what a coincidence! I'm in Sydney too! Please, Ary?'_

_Aryel sighed and looked at her blank piece of paper._

'_fine.'_

--

'So, how does it feel?' Sawyer asked Boone. 'Taking my place at the top of everyone's most hated list. Sucks, don't it?'

Boone gave him a dirty look and Michelle silently shooed him away.

--

Erica started laughing.

'I've never.....been drink – drunk – before!' she laughed. Somehow, in their drunken state, Luka and Eli found this hilarious and started laughing.

Josie was laughing too, although she wasn't drunk. Her bottle had been filled with water. She couldn't get drunk. She could blow their whole operation if she did.

Josie looked up to the jungle, and blinked, surprised.

Sitting up in the trees there was Cam, Kat, Carlos and Scar.

They smiled at her.

All but Kat. she looked indifferent about the situation.

Josie's smile faltered, but then it was stronger than before.

Nothing could ruin this moment.

The three teenagers she was sitting with were actually like friends, unlike Peter, Elliot, Rachel, Karl, Scar and Alex. The teenagers at the Barracks were friends because none of them had anyone else.

No. That wasn't true.

Karl and Alex had been together for a long time. Despite Ben's disapproval.

Peter had his family, despite how dysfunctional Goodwin's and Harper's marriage was.

Rachel and Elliot had been friends since birth. And it was obvious to anyone short of a coma they loved each other.

Scar had the whole Alpert family, after Cam took her in. She even had Krist, who they all knew she would eventually fall in love with. He loved her already, despite her scars – both metaphorical and literal.

Really, Josie was the only one who spent time with the other teenagers because she had no one else at the Barracks, not because she liked them. She did, but not in the ways the rest of them did, not in the ways the rest of them got each other.

But this....this was where Josie belonged.

--

**So, there's the chapter. Hope you liked it. And Aryel's not a total bitch :) **

**Oh, if anyone cares, I finished NaNoWriMo, and I did double what I should have. I'm still on cloud nine.**


	10. One Day This World's Going to End

**Hey. Here's the next chapter. It has one flashback each from Layla, Ashley, Serena and Induala. Enjoy! The new disclaimer is in the first chapter and is updated regularly.**

**Washington D.C.**

A woman slowly inhaled as she stood in the warrior pose.

'Miss Chang?' a woman asked from the doorway.

'yes?' the woman said.

'your ten o'clock is here,' she said.

'thank you, Candice,' the woman said, standing up from her yoga pose.

She quickly tidied herself up and walked into her office to see someone standing by the window, his back to her.

'hello?' the woman said. 'you must be Matthew. I'm Doctor Isobel Chang. You can call me either Dr. Chang or Isobel, whatever makes you feel more comfortable. Take a seat.'

Isobel sat down on one of the couches and waited for the man to.

'hello?' Isobel said when the man made no move to join her.

Isobel stood up and walked over, putting her hand on the man's shoulder.

The man suddenly turned around to face her. 'Izzie, nice to see you could fit me in.'

'Matt?' Isobel asked. 'what are you doing here? I thought you said you wouldn't come back to find me.'

'yeah, well, I may have said that, but Ben and Kat sure as Hell didn't,' he said. 'we need your help, Iz.'

'why?' she asked, crossing her arms across her chest, her carefree persona going, quickly being replaced by anger. She took a deep breath, calming herself. Matt waited until she was calm before proceeding.

'Oceanic Flight 815,' Matt said. 'you know it?'

'of course,' she said. 'it crashed a week ago, no survivors.'

'there are survivors,' Matt said. 'on our island.' He passed her a folder. 'this is the Kahana, owned by the one and only Charles Widmore. It's heading for us. Ben wants you on it.'

'and if I say no?' she asked.

'then I am to knock you out and bring you to the island,' he shrugged.

'what, you reckon you could take me, Matt?' she asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Izzie, you know that I could,' Matt said. 'look, either come to the island, or get on that freighter.'

'Charles Widmore knows who I am, he knows I was on that island,' she said. 'he tried to recruit me. I said no, my allegiance is with you, Matt, and if your with the island and Ben, then I am too.'

'so will you come back?' Matt asked.

'until it's over,' she nodded.

--

**On the island**

It was early in the morning and Eva was glaring at Dom, the only other person who was awake.

'so your sisters one of them,' Eva said.

'she is,' Dom said.

'I don't trust her,' Eva told him.

'okay then,' he said.

'and seeing as you get along so well with her, unlike myself and my sister, by default, I don't trust you either,' Eva said.

'I'm fine with that.'

'and my daughter shouldn't trust you either.'

'I never asked her to.'

'but yet she still does. And why does she trust you?'

'mom!' Felicity exclaimed, finally opening her eyes, having enough of the conversation. 'give it a rest.'

--

'nice try, but it's not going to work.'

Jack, Jason and Petro all looked between each other and then back to Yoon. Behind the three men, there was Laura, Jenny, Charlie and Kate.

The three men should have known better than to piss off Yoon by leaving her alone as the only doctor on the beach.

Again.

'look, I have to go,' Petro said.

'and why is that?' she questioned haughtily, crossing her arms across her chest.

'because I know where it is,' he nodded.

'so do I,' Jack added quickly.

'I...promised Claire I'd do this,' Jason lied.

'funny thing, hormones,' Yoon said through gritted teeth. 'can make you do stupid things. Like, at the moment, I'm feeling a bit homicidal.'

'and I've never broken a promise to her,' Jason continued.

'no time like the present to start, hey?' Petro said to him.

'Petro, shut up,' Yoon said. 'that may have been my thoughts exactly, but you saying that pissed me off. You shouldn't throw someone to the wolves like that. So, I personally think you should stay here and keep an eye on James,' Yoon said. She turned to the others. 'have fun on your little hike.'

'you're a bitch,' Jason said to Yoon as they began to walk off.

'I know,' she said.

--

'ugh,' Erica said, placing a hand to her head. 'I hate hangovers.'

The four teenagers were only now regretting the drinking they had done the night before. Well, three of them were, and Josie was pretending to be, while inside she was laughing at them.

They were now trying to be as discreet as possible about the fact that were hung over. After all, they were still only teenagers.

'hey!' Sawyer yelled to the camp. He was outside his tent, a pissed off look on his face. 'who's been in my stuff?'

Eli, Erica, Luka and Josie looked at each other.

They hadn't thought about his reaction.

--

'we need to keep moving,' Ana Lucia announced.

'Ana, we've been walking for a full day without a break,' Layla said. 'we need to rest.'

'do you want more of us to be taken?' she asked.

'no, but...'

'the kids are exhausted, we all are,' Nicanor said. 'we need to rest, Ana Lucia.'

'what we need is to keep going,' Ana said stubbornly.

'well, here's an idea,' Jonas said to her. 'we could just overrule you here, Ana Lucia.'

''overrule me'?' she repeated.

'yeah,' Erin said. 'it's where we don't like you, so we take his side. Pretty easy concept, actually.'

--

'this is rigged,' Oz announced.

Maya, Hurley, Lucy, Deniz, Max and Walt started laughing at him. He was losing. Badly.

They were playing Cheat with a pack of cards that Max had found.

'how is it that three kids can tell when I'm bluffing?' Oz complained. 'they can read me like a book.'

'it's an easy read,' Maya said.

'you be quiet,' Oz told her.

'Dudes, what's going on over there?' Hurley asked, pointing behind them. They all turned to see Jin punching Michael.

'Dad!' Walt shouted, running over.

'Walt, be careful!' Maya called after him as the rest of them got up.

Sun was yelling at Jin in Korean.

Sayid ran up and tackled Jin to the ground. Sawyer joined them, getting Michael out of the water, where Jin had been trying to drown him.

'The handcuffs from the Sky Marshal. Now,' Sayid said.

--

_The words from all those years ago still rang in Layla's ears._

'I don't trust him!' _her sister had basically shrieked across the house. _'there's something not right about him!'

_A younger Layla, a foolish Layla, was defiant in her answer. _'well, I trust him, and I love him! Nothing's wrong with him!'

'well when he leaves you all broken up, don't come crying to me!' _Layla had forgotten that Molly had screamed that. Maybe waiting here for her wasn't a good idea. After all, she was actually going to Molly to....well, not to cry, but to....reconcile? maybe. But maybe not._

_Suddenly someone sat down next to her._

_It was Molly. _

_God she had changed. But then again, she supposed she had too._

'_you were right about him,' Layla said simply._

'_I know,' Molly said as simply as her._

_The two sat like that for a minute before Molly wrapped her arms around her older sister and Layla's head fell onto Molly's shoulder._

_Suddenly they forgot why they hadn't talked in the first place._

_--_

'wow,' Kate said. 'how'd you find this place?' she asked, looking around.

'Luck,' Jack told her.

The group of them looked around.

'It's amazing,' Jenny said.

'Absolutely. It's totally Locke,' Charlie said. Charlie looked over and saw a piece of the plane wreckage. 'hey guys, shouldn't someone look through this stuff? Could be something useful in here.'

'he's right,' Jenny said.

'he is?' Laura asked.

'I am?' Charlie asked.

'Yeah,' Jack said. 'Bring me your bottles, and keep an eye out for any medical supplies, drugs in particular.'

'Drugs, right,' he echoed.

Charlie walked behind a tree, and looked over his shoulder as he took some drugs out of his pocket.

'Don't move,' Jenny said.

Charlie quickly put the drugs away. 'Look, I was just going to take...'

'Do not move,' Jenny said.

Jack, Laura, Jason and Kate walked over.

'what's going on?' Jack asked.

'oh Hell,' Laura murmured.

'he's standing on a beehive,' Jenny explained.

'What's a beehive doing there?' Charlie asked, panicking. 'Beehives are supposed to be in trees.'

'stay still,' Jenny said. 'you move, the hive splits.'

'I think I'm allergic to bees,' Charlie told them nervously.

'please shut up,' Jenny said. She turned to the others. 'We need to get something to seal the hive.'

'To cover it?' Kate asked.

'yeah,' Jenny said.

'with what?' Jack asked.

Laura sighed and took off her t-shirt, so she was standing there in her bra. 'will this do?' she asked them.

'it will do,' Jenny said, walking closer to Charlie.

'This is the worst idea ever,' Charlie said.

'and again, shut up,' Laura said.

'and again,' Jason muttered softly. 'stop being a bitch.'

'I heard that,' she smirked.

A bee landed on Charlie's face, and he knocked it away. Because of this, he went off balance and stepped on the hive, breaking it open.

'shit,' Jenny said. 'run!'

Jason pulled Charlie up and ran one way with him, while Kate and Laura went another way, and Jack and Jenny yet another.

Kate and Laura, after getting away from the bees, collapsed in the cave.

Kate turned her head to see a skeleton right next to her.

She let out a small scream and backed away.

--

'so, Warren, is it?' Renata asked the man in front of her. He didn't reply. 'my name is Renata,' she introduced. 'this, next to me, is Gus. He'd like to ask you some questions.'

'Warren,' Gus said. 'you work for Charles Widmore, correct?'

'I do,' Warren muttered, thinking better than to deny it.

'and recently you've been negotiating a deal about a new explosive with a....' he checked his paper. 'Chin Ho, a North Korean operative, correct?'

'yes,' he muttered.

'okay,' Gus said, walking out of the room. Tom and Renata were standing there, looking at him expectantly.

He shook his head. 'Goodwin was wrong,' Gus told them. 'he shouldn't be here.'

--

'I did nothing,' Michael repeated.

'Surely there must be something you're not telling us,' Sayid said to him. 'he didn't attack you for no reason.'

Maya jogged over to them.

'I thought you were getting Yoon?' Sayid asked her.

'Yoon's sleeping,' Maya told them.

'so wake her up,' Sawyer said.

'no. She hasn't slept in 36 hours until now. She's pregnant and tired. I'm not waking her up.'

--

Kate and Laura looked at the skeleton.

'Who is he? How'd he get here?' Kate asked.

'no idea,' Laura said. 'you guys shot a polar bear last week, right?' she asked.

'yeah.'

'how'd that get here?'

'hello?' a voice asked. 'anybody there?'

'yeah,' Kate called back.

In walked Jack, Jason, Jenny and Charlie.

'you guys okay?' Laura asked.

'A few stings aside,' Jenny nodded.

'oh, yeah, those two are fine,' Charlie said. 'Jason and I made a wonderful diversion for them.'

'we were only stung several hundred times,' Jason added. He held up a shirt. 'someone left this behind. And,' he looked at Laura. 'given that you are the only one shirtless, I'm assuming it's yours,' he smirked at her.

'give me that,' she snapped, taking it from him. 'it was full of bees.'

'I'd have thought C's, actually,' Charlie said. Laura, Jenny and Kate each gave him a look that relayed the exact same message: you're an idiot. 'sorry,' he said.

Charlie looked at the skeletons.

'Bloody Hell! Are these the people who were here before us?' he asked.

Jack and Jason both gave him the same look that he had just received from the other three.

'Uh, just, you know, the, the, there could have been people here before us, right?'

'Clearly,' Laura said dryly. 'But, who were these men?'

'Actually, one of them is female,' Jack said.

'does it matter?' Laura asked.

'huh,' Jenny said. 'Our very own Adam and Eve.'

--

'Ana, look, we found a river, we should just stay here for awhile,' Libby said.

'I agree,' Induala said softly.

'how long is awhile?' Ana sighed. She had already lost the fight about a short break.

'a couple days,' Layla said.

'she's not our leader,' Ashley said. 'we don't need to consult her on everything we do.'

'hey, kid,' Constance barked, sick of her attitude. 'shut it.'

'okay, we'll stay here,' Ana said. Induala sighed. She just wished they didn't always have to watch their backs.

--

'what are you thinking?' Kate asked Jack as he looked at the small waterfall.

'46 people need to drink a half gallon a day each. Carrying all this water back and forth is going to be real pain in the ass,' Jack said.

He turned to her.

'These caves make too good a shelter just to be used for burial. Adam and Eve, they must have lived here. Their plane crashed, or maybe they were ship-wrecked. They probably found this place and knew they could survive here. Unlimited supply of fresh water, tree canopy keeps the temperature down, shields out the sun, the openings are narrow, easier for protection against predators. We don't need to bring the water to the people. We need to bring the people to the water. I think we could live here.'

Jason, Laura and Jenny looked amused.

'and pigs might fly,' Laura said cheerfully.

--

'_get out of this damn car!' Ashley shrieked, pushing her sister out of the car. No. Her sister could _not _be trying to make her life seem irrelevant the day she was graduating college._

_Ashley wouldn't really care if it were Christmas and Saint Ally tried to take that away. Hell, she wouldn't care if it was her birthday and this was happening. But no. You only graduate once, and Ally, little miss centre of the universe, was trying to make it about her breakup. _

_So Ashley had a right to kick her out of the car and lock the door. _

_Ally started running over to the other side of the car, but Ashley figured she could go faster than Ally and leave before her sister could get back in._

_She realized she was wrong when she heard a sickening crunch and she realized she had run over her sister._

--

Scar walked over to Kat.

'Kat?' she asked her quietly. Kat looked up from where she had been cleaning her gun.

'yes, Scarlett?' she put down the gun.

'Josie shouldn't be out there,' Scar said.

'and why is that?'

'I saw her last night; I saw how happy she was. She fits in there, and she may betray us in the end.'

'Scarlett, sweetheart,' Kat said sweetly. 'would you _like _me to kill you?'

'no, I'm just saying-'

'well then 'just say' to someone completely different about something different!' Kat snapped.

Scarlett quickly left and Kat sighed. She knew inevitably her daughter would turn. She just didn't want it to be yet.

_--_

'Lucy, come on,' Oz murmured, as Lucy made to stop and look at Jin, still handcuffed.

'why? What did he do wrong?' Lucy asked.

'he attacked Michael.'

'did Michael deserve it?' she asked.

'I don't know. No one does,' he sighed. 'just stay away from Jin. He's dangerous.'

'my daddy was dangerous,' Lucy said.

--

'why did he give me to you, Chachi?' Deniz asked Maya.

'come again?' she asked.

'why did dad give me to you?' she asked. 'why you and not mom?'

Maya sighed. 'you know the story, Den. Your mother and father got divorced, and your father won sole custody of you because your mother was away all the time. You weren't allowed to live with her. So your father decided that he would get you to stay with me for awhile while he did some important work or something, and then he'd come back.'

'oh. Okay,' Deniz said.

Maya sighed, feeling bad. She had lied to her. Well, she had sugar coated it. So much, the real story was barely there anymore. Yes, Deniz's parents had divorced, but no, Adem hadn't had sole custody. He took Deniz away from Devika. Yes, Adem had given Deniz to Maya for awhile, but no. He had no intention of coming back for her.

--

'How come he doesn't like us?' Walt asked Michael. 'what did you do to him?'

'What did I do to him?' Michael asked. 'You tell me? I've been with you since we crashed. Have you seen me do anything, to anyone? What kind of man do you think I am, anyway? What did your mother say about me?'

'She never talked about you,' Walt shrugged.

'You don't know anything about me, do you?' Michael asked.

'You don't know anything about me.'

'I know a lot about you.'

'Yeah? When's my birthday?'

'August 24th. When's mine?' he paused. 'Forget it, come on, man.'

--

Jack, Jason, Laura, Charlie, Kate and Jenny stopped for a break. Jack was looking at Kate.

'you checking me out?' Kate asked him.

'What?' he asked surprised.

'No harm in it,' a smile was growing on her face.

'Trust me, if I was checking you out, you'd know it,' Jack said.

Laura rolled her eyes to Jenny and Jason. 'seriously,' she muttered to them. 'why don't they just get it over with and make out?'

'I second that opinion,' Jenny muttered back. 'and another opinion I have, but that will remain in my head,' she said, looking pointedly between Laura and Jason.

Laura shot her a dirty look.

Jenny seemed unfazed and smirked.

--

'are you making a trap?' Serena asked Nicanor.

'yeah,' he said. 'want to know how it works?'

'no, not really. It's actually pretty disgusting,' she said.

Akilina walked back into the clearing. Induala looked up, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Where had she gone this time?

_--_

_Serena smiled. She was finally going. Yes, she had planned this for weeks, but now that the day was actually here, she really believed that she was going to do it. She had to quickly pack a bag, after all, if she had started a few days beforehand her parents would have noticed and been suspicious._

_So she packed a suitcase, with all her prized possessions in it, including her signed Driveshaft CD._

_She quickly scrawled a note and put it on the kitchen bench._

Don't Look For Me.

Serena

_She went outside when she heard her taxi pull up. 'finally,' she muttered._

'_I'm sorry that it took awhile,' the driver said to her. _

'_I have a plane to Sydney to catch,' she said._

'_I'm sorry,' the driver said._

'_it's okay,' she said. _

_Finally she was gone._

_--_

'Are you going with the pessimists, or staying here and waiting for the rescue boats?' Roxy asked.

'you know me, Roxy,' Aryel said. 'always the pessimist. You?'

'you know me Ary, always the optimist,' she said. 'we all need to still have hope. It's only been a week. We'll be rescued soon.'

'I'll hold you to it,' she said.

--

'Michelle?'

Michelle looked up, already knowing who it would be. Max, of course. No one else came over to her, she seemed to freak them out, what with the whole silence thing she had going on. They needed to learn though. She was grieving. Max understood that.

Michelle smiled weakly at him.

'so, have you heard about the plan of moving to the caves?' she nodded. 'do you want to go?'

She shook her head.

'me neither,' he sighed. 'think about it, if I could find my board, I could tear up these waves.'

Michelle smiled weakly again. He was so young, so naive.

--

Sun watched Michael from behind a tree. After a moment, she approached him.

'Oh great, look who came to chat,' he muttered.

'I need to talk to you,' Sun said in perfect English.

'You speak English?' Michael asked in disbelief.

'Yes. My husband doesn't know.'

'Why would you learn English and not tell your husband?' Michael asked incredulously.

'He has a bad temper. What my husband did to you today, it was a misunderstanding,' she said to him. 'It was the watch.'

'I found this watch two days ago,' Michael told her.

'It belongs to my father. Protecting that watch is a question of honour,' she explained softly to him

'He calls trying to kill me in front of my kid, honour?'

'You don't know my father. I need your help.'

--

Cam walked into a room.

'who are you?' a child asked, scared. Next to her two other children.

'there's no need to be scared, Jessica,' Cam said. 'my name is Camilla. I'm just here to give you something to eat.'

She sat down a plate of sandwiches for them. They all dove for the plate, and Cam's eyes shone with unshed tears.

At times like this she really wished that she hadn't been made ageless and thus infertile. She had craved kids for....oh, about a century. She had lost count. Sure, Scar was like a daughter to her, but she really wanted one of her own.

She smiled at the children and walked out.

--

Later that day, nearing sunset, Jin was free, and most everything was normal.

'you staying here then, Sawyer?' Aryel asked him.

'and you're leaving then, Buffy?' he countered.

'obviously. Hey, you know your stash? Do you only have the one?'

'course not,' he said.

'so where's your other one?'

'like I'd tell you.'

'not in your tent, is it?' he looked at her in interest. 'just thought it might have been. I mean, why else would the teenagers have walked out of it yesterday with alcohol and cigarettes?' she asked, walking away.

Sawyer turned his head to where Eli, Erica, Luka and Josie were laughing, the former two packing their stuff to go to the caves.

Aryel smirked as Sawyer began to walk over there.

Behind her, she heard Sawyer question them, Josie sarcastically reply, Sawyer threaten her, Luka stick up for her, Eli and Erica yell at Sawyer, and the sound of someone's fist colliding with a face.

And then some yells from other people, and the sound of people running.

Aryel smiled slightly. Chaos, panic and disorder – her work here was done.

--

In the infirmary, Yoon opened her eyes up to see James looking at her.

'so, you sleep like this all the time?' James asked. 'all day?'

'shut up,' she muttered. 'so you didn't die on me. What a shame. Any memories?'

'none whatsoever,' he said.

'any idea what has been happening outside today?' she asked, checking his burns.

'well, Petro came in at one point to give an update. Apparently the Chinese man tried to kill some Michael guy, so they handcuffed him. Big misunderstanding turns out. One of the other doctors, starts with J?'

'Jack or Jason?' she asked.

'Jack, yeah. He thinks we should all move to the caves, the Iraqi has different ideas. So we're half and half.'

'you staying here?' she asked.

'I have to, don't I?' he asked.

'okay,' she said. 'I'll be back.'

Yoon walked over there and spoke to Sun in Korean. 'where are you going?' she asked her.

'Jin and I are going to the caves,' she said.

'okay,' she nodded. 'seen Petro, Jack or Jason?'

'yes, Jack is over there,' she pointed.

'thanks,' Yoon said. She walked over. 'so is Petro or Jason going with you?'

'no,' Jack told her.

'good. Two go to caves, two stay,' she said.

--

Induala walked up to Ana Lucia and Constance, who were a while away from their makeshift camp, digging a huge pit. They had done quite a lot of it, it was about as tall as them so far.

'Ana Lucia?' Induala asked. 'Back at the beach – the night they came back – I overheard you tell Constance that Akilina was gone for 2 hours? That she was missing? She did it again today. And of course, none of us can actually understand her, but I swear I've seen a look that shows she can understand us. And she sometimes says an English word without struggling. Creeps me out, Ana. Do you really think it's possible that one of us is one of them?' Induala said.

'why do you think we're digging this hole?' she asked her.

--

_Induala sat alone in the bathroom, ice to her head. She wished she could leave. She really wished she could. Her family may say she would be bringing shame to the family, but she was over this. She was not Daruka's own personal punching bag. He may think so, but she was not. _

_Her family never should have sold her to the first person who wanted her. No. They shouldn't have done it at all._

_She really needed to get out of here._

_Or her real self would disappear completely._

--

Yoon sat down next to Sammy.

'hey,' she said. 'it's almost time to go. You coming with us?' she asked.

'no,' he said simply.

'why not? Someone else can stay here; keep a look out, wait for rescue, whatever it is you're doing. Why does it have to be you?' she questioned him.

'do you want me to go to the caves with the rest of you?' he asked.

'I don't care either way, I'm just trying to understand you,' she said.

'don't,' he snapped. 'you don't want to know anything about me. You don't want to know what I've done to survive, Yoon.'

'you want to talk to me about surviving?' she exclaimed disbelievingly. 'really? You want to go there?'

'only if you do, Sweetheart,' he snapped.

'okay, let's talk about surviving,' she hissed. 'I was trained to be a spy. I was born to be a spy. And no, that is not a figure of speech. The sole reason my mother gave birth to me, was for me to be a spy and to bring down the South Koreans. Did I want this? No. Was I gonna have to help no matter what? Yes. Want to know how old I was when I killed for the first time? I was nine. I don't know who the person was; just that he wanted my mother dead. But then my mother got cancer, and she was going to die. She couldn't do the things she wanted to, including doing jobs for her cell leader. I killed every other weekend when I was eleven. By my twelfth birthday my mother was gone. The leader put me in a South Korean orphanage, in the hopes I could pass as a South Korean. Turns out I could, with the training I'd had. So I was adopted by the Paik family. But still, I killed. Because if I didn't, I would not have survived to be this age. After I left Korea for Australia, I met a man Ryan Harper. I got to know this man. My cell got transferred to Sydney, and my life got fucked up again. What else was new? So we were a sleeper cell, and in the end I knew I'd have to kill the man I met. Then Hana, a cell member, got the idea that I could marry him as a cover. So I did. They told me to kill him soon. I was going to, because they would have killed me otherwise. But then I got pregnant, and they killed Ryan one day, the day before the crash. I went and killed them all, because I knew it was a matter of time before they killed me. So I got to them first. And that, killing hundreds as a child, lying to the people you love, killing in the name of love, and killing to ensure your own safety and to ensure you'll live to see at least one more day, that.... _that _is surviving. So don't you dare talk to me about the stuff I lived through.' Throughout her entire speech, Yoon's South Korean accent had dropped so far into her North Korean one that Sammy was actually quite surprised at how different it was. He actually liked her real accent quite a lot.

'Yoon, you're no-' he began, but she cut him off.

'if you need me you know where to find me,' she said coldly, walking away.

'-ot the reason he's dead. I am,' he finished softly, despite the fact she wasn't there.

--

Charlie was playing his guitar in the caves, looking around him at all the life.

Oz, Lucy, Maya and Deniz were playing cheat again, talking loudly.

Yoon and Sun were talking at top speed in Korean, although Charlie swore he heard a few English words thrown in.

Hurley was talking to Aryel.

Locke was sharpening a knife.

Jack was filling up water bottles.

Erica and Eli were sitting just outside the caves, hiding the fact that they were smoking from the rest of them. Luka and Josie were right. It was addictive.

'can I ask you something?' Walt asked Michael.

'Anything you want, man,' Michael said.

'When's your birthday?'

--

At the beach, Kate was also watching everything going on around her.

Sawyer, Sayid, Roxy, Claire and Jenny were sitting around a fire, talking.

Laura and Jason were, of course, arguing – or, as the rest of them called it, flirting – with each other.

Petro was cleaning James's wounds.

Josie was cleaning the wound that Luka got from when Sawyer punched him.

Shannon was doing a crossword, Boone silent next to her.

Michelle and Max were sitting next to each other, Max having a one sided conversation with her, the only input she had was nodding her head or shaking it.

Sammy was sitting by himself, moodily staring into a fire. Seriously, she acted like she knew about surviving. Sure, she knew about it, but that didn't make her an expert on it. God, why did she seem to get under his skin much more than anyone else?

Was it because he killed her husband?

--

**Hope you liked it.**


	11. Now All I've Got are these Photographs

**Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

_Sometimes there are days that change history,_ Aryel wrote in a notebook. _For me, that day was last Saturday._

Aryel looked around her. Yes, it did change history for her, being stuck on an island.

She saw Charlie looking sick. God, he looked like Hell.

Oz sat down next to him.

'you okay, Charlie?' Oz asked.

'yeah, I'm fine,' Charlie said.

'you should get some rest,' Oz told him. 'you don't look okay.'

--

'Three antennas,' Sayid was saying to Kate, Aryel and Max. 'Three points of a triangle. One here on the beach. Another, Aryel will position in the jungle, roughly two kilometres in, and the third I'll take to high ground, up there. If the French transmission is coming from somewhere within our triangulation, I'll be able to locate the source. But there are two complications,' Sayid sighed.

'what's new?' Aryel asked.

'The power cells I grafted onto the antennas are dry. There's no telling how long they'll last. A minute – maybe more, maybe less.'

'So we have to wait until we're in position before we switch them on,' Kate nodded.

'Wait. Wait a second. How are we going to be able to tell that we're actually in the right position? We have no way to communicate with each other,' Max said.

Sayid smiled slightly and produced some bottle rockets.

'Bottle rockets?' Kate and Max asked in unison.

'Thank God for fireworks smugglers,' Sayid said. 'Now, when I'm in position I'll fire off my rocket. When you two see it, you fire yours. As soon as the last one has gone up we all switch on our antennas.'

'Okay, but you said there are two complications,' Aryel said, always the pessimist.

'The battery in the transceiver is dead,' Sayid sighed. 'Without the transceiver all of this is for nothing. Something from a laptop computer would probably work, but I've not been able to find anything.'

Kate and Aryel looked at each other.

'after you, Kate,' Aryel said.

--

'_who's that?' Oz nodded towards a woman, a beautiful woman._

'_that's Morgan. Morgan Kendall,' Dave said. 'she's the singer of Crest of Spin,' he added in disgust._

_Of course. She was the singer from Crest of Spin. Their rivals. The rivals they had never met._

_Oz kept an eye on her for the rest of the night, until Dave left. Then finally, he walked over to her._

'_hi, Morgan, right?' he said._

'_yes,' she said._

'_I'm Oz,' he said. 'can I sit here?'_

'_sure.'_

'_you're the lead singer of Crest of Spin, right?'_

_Morgan rolled her eyes. She should have known that he was a fan trying to get lucky. 'look-'_

'_It's not what you think,' he assured her. 'my name's Oz Geller, I'm the bassist from Twice Shy. I just wanted to meet you. I admire you. Is it okay if I sit here and talk to you?'_

'_sure,' she smiled._

--

'seriously, this guys hoarding so much crap, and he doesn't have a frickin' laptop?' Aryel asked.

Kate and Aryel were at Sawyer's stash; the one Aryel had attacked him at and were looking through the suitcase.

'porn, cigarettes, medicine, a mirror – I'll take that – a _pregnancy_ test, _Yesterday's Regret, Today's Pain, Tomorrow's Promise _– why the Hell does he have my first three books? I'll take them too,' Aryel turned to Kate. 'no laptop?'

'no laptop,' Kate said. 'the other stash?' she asked.

'the other stash,' Aryel nodded.

--

'you don't have a single laptop?' Kate asked incredulously.

'We are testy. Still upset about your little break up? You and Jacko?'' Sawyer said.

'want me to hit you again?' Aryel asked.

Sawyer smiled and reached into a suitcase, pulling out a laptop and giving them the battery.

'all you had to do was say please,' he told them.

--

Jin was trying to clean the wound he had got from the handcuff, which was still on his wrist.

'you should have the doctor look at it,' Sun said in Korean. 'or at least Yoon.'

'I'm fine. It will heal,' Jin told her.

'you're stubborn, Jin,' Yoon said in Korean, walking over. She passed him a bowl of something. 'aloe vera. It will help.'

He smiled at her slightly.

--

'one, two, three, four,' Lucy said to Oz. 'I declare a thumb war.'

'you will not win this time, Luce,' Oz told her. He suddenly got distracted and she held his thumb down.

'I win!' she exclaimed.

Oz smiled but was preoccupied. 'Charlie?' he called out. 'you alright?' he looked at Lucy. 'give me a minute.'

Oz exchanged a look with Roxy, who also had been looking at Charlie, and the two of them walked over to Charlie, who was in a cave.

'you okay, man?' Oz asked.

'sit down, let us get one of the doctors to look at you,' Roxy said.

'Oh, you're going to look out for me, yeah. We'll look out for each other, that's how it is? I'm not interested,' Charlie said. Oz raised an eyebrow, realizing what was wrong.

'Charlie, just calm down, alright. You're not yourself.'

'what's going on?' Laura asked, walking over.

'You don't know me,' Charlie exclaimed to Oz and Roxy. 'I'm a bloody rock god!'

At the last word, the cave they were in started to crumble around them.

'Oh, no,' Hurley said.

Charlie stumbled from the rubble.

'Charlie, where's Oz, Roxy and Laura?' Hurley asked. 'where's Oz, Roxy and Laura?'

--

'_are you serious?' Morgan asked. The two of them had been together for two years, unbeknownst to their bands._

'_yeah, why not?' Oz said. 'we should just elope to Vegas, or somewhere.'_

'_and you're serious?'_

'_you've already asked me that,' he said. 'I am.'_

'_okay,' she said. 'let's do it. Let's get married.'_

--

Erica ran onto the beach.

'HEY!!!' she yelled, getting everybody's attention. 'there was a cave-in!!!'

'what?' Boone asked.

'Oz is in there, so is Roxy, and so is Laura!'

Jason stood up. 'what?' he asked.

'come on, we gotta go!' Erica exclaimed.

Jason looked at Claire. 'go!' she exclaimed. He nodded and followed Kate, Erica, Luka, Josie, Jenny, Boone, Shannon, and some other people.

Claire smiled knowingly to herself.

Max started to run off, but turned back to Michelle.

'Michelle, at 5 o'clock sharp you have to be ready to turn that antenna on over there,' he told her. 'There's a switch at the base. Can you do that?'

She nodded.

'the antenna's power's really weak so you have to wait until they fire their bottle rockets. Then you fire this one. Then you turn on the antenna. Got it?'

She nodded again and he ran off.

Erica stopped suddenly.

'Wait. Aryel,' he said. 'Hey, we have to tell Aryel about Roxy.'

'Sorry sport, you just missed her,' Sawyer said. 'Buffy and Mohammad headed into the woods about 10 minutes ago.'

'Which way?' Erica asked.

'Don't sweat it, kid. I know which way they went.'

Sawyer walked off in that direction.

--

Yoon started to walk towards where everyone was moving rocks.

'ooh, Chinese Whispers wants to act like she can do everything, despite the fact she's eight months pregnant,' Sammy said sarcastically behind her.

'shikoro!' she exclaimed.

'he's right,' Maya said. 'sorry, but you shouldn't be doing this, Yoon. You should take the kids back to the beach. It's not safe here for them.'

'fine,' she hissed. 'Walt, Lucy, Deniz!' she called out. 'let's go, apparently it's not safe here for children or pregnant women.'

Walt, Lucy and Deniz walked over to her.

'Oz is going to be alright, isn't he?' Lucy asked.

'of course.'

Lucy didn't see Yoon's smile falter.

--

_It was the night before the wedding and Oz was packing a bag. He was so sorry for what he was about to do, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't go through with this._

_He finished packing his bag in the dark and walked over to where Morgan was sleeping._

_He kissed her forehead._

'_I'm sorry, Morgan. I love you,' he whispered._

--

Oz heard one of the other two groan.

'Roxy? Laura? Charlie?' he asked.

'there's only the three of us, Oz,' Laura said. 'you, Roxy and I.'

'Roxy? You okay?' Oz asked.

'my shoulder,' she groaned. 'it's dislocated.'

--

Yoon, Claire, Walt, Deniz and Lucy were sitting on the beach, all of them in bad moods.

'it's not fair,' Yoon said.

'just because we're pregnant, we have to stay here and be helpless,' Claire added.

'just because we're kids,' Deniz, Walt and Lucy grumbled at the same time.

Across the beach, Michelle bit her lip, trying not to laugh at them.

They thought they had problems.

--

'Kat!' a voice yelled.

She smiled slightly, although she was worried. She would know that voice anywhere. But the fact that she was here, it worried her.

'Izzie,' Kat said, turning around. The younger woman hugged Kat.

'ooh, you're not happy about something,' Izzie said to Kat. 'or at least you won't be soon.'

'wow, you are actually happy to be back,' Matt said to her. 'you on drugs or something?'

'I never realize how much I miss it until I come back. Like last time,' Izzie said.

Izzie's face brightened as she saw someone. 'Josh!'

--

Joshua was talking to Carlos, Esther, Gus, Hayden, Scar and Krist when he saw a sight that made him extremely happy. Isobel Chang was back.

He knew Matt could succeed. He knew that, despite what the others said, Izzie would come back. She always did.

'what's with the grin?' Carlos asked.

'she's back,' Josh said to Carlos.

Carlos looked over. 'well, I'll be damned.'

'who is she?' Scar asked.

'that is Isobel Chang, Matt's sister. Don't be fooled by her looks, she's beautiful but dangerous,' Krist said. 'hey, kind of like all of you,' he said to the girls.

'we're not dangerous,' Hayden, Esther and Scar said in unison.

'exhibit a: Esther, you tried to kill you sisters,' Carlos said.

'exhibit b: Hayden, you want to kill people that mess with you,' Gus said.

'exhibit c: Scar, well, you're covered in scars. Which implies you have been in fights, and seeing as you're still here....' Krist trailed off.

'and what about her?' Esther nodded her head to Izzie.

Josh showed them a scar on his chest. 'exhibit d: she tried to kill me.'

At that moment Izzie saw him. 'Josh!' she yelled, rushing over. She jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly.

'and they're still friends,' Scar said dryly. 'go figure.'

--

'can you hear us?' Jenny asked.

'Laura? Oz? Roxy?' Jason called.

'do you need something, asshole?' Laura called out.

Jason smiled.

'you guys okay?' he asked.

'Roxy's got a dislocated shoulder,' Oz called out.

'Charlie was with us,' Roxy said.

'He's okay. He made it out,' Michael said.

'we're gonna get you guys out, okay?' Jason called.

--

'can't believe you wanted to come with us,' Aryel said to Sawyer, who was walking with them.

'We'll place the second antenna here,' Sayid said. He turned to Sawyer. 'you wanted to help? Attach this as high up in that tree,' he pointed to a tree and passed him the antenna.

Sawyer started climbing the tree.

'hopefully he falls,' Aryel muttered.

'Five o'clock,' Sayid said softly to the woman. 'Watch for my flare, then it's your turn. I don't trust him.'

'Who does?' Aryel asked.

--

'I'll do it,' Erica volunteered. She was volunteering to climb through to the injured people.

'haha, no,' Luka said.

'I could do it,' Josie said.

'no.'

'why can't we?'

'I'll do it,' Charlie said.

'no, you're still too shook up, I'll-' Michael began.

'or I will,' Jason said.

'I could squeeze through, I'm tiny,' Jenny said.

Jin said something.

'Hey, who's going to take care of your son if something happens?' Charlie asked Michael. 'Sun and Jin are married, Boone's got a sister. Maya, what about Deniz? Luka's got Josie-'

'what?' Josie and Luka asked in unison. As far as the two of them were concerned, they helped each other to get ahead, they were not really friends.

'-Josie's got Luka,' he continued. 'Jason's sister's pregnant. Max is all Michelle's got at the moment. Erica and Eli are still kids too.'

'teenagers!' they exclaimed.

'whatever. I'm alone here. Let me do this.'

--

Sawyer and Aryel were sitting against a tree.

'what ya writing, Buffy?' Sawyer asked, looking over Aryel's shoulder.

'bugger off!' she exclaimed.

'so what's with you and your friend?' he asked. 'there she is, all hippy save the environment like, and here's you, insulting everyone you see.'

'and...?'

'how does that add up? She's all nice to everyone, you want to kill us all. Everyone likes her because of it. Hell, give me a picket that says "save the whales" or somethin' like that and everyone will love me.'

Aryel snorted. 'are you seriously comparing yourself to Roxanne Marino?' she asked.

'the difference between us ain't that big, sweetheart. I guarantee you, if she had survived a few more weeks on this island you'd have figured that out,' Sawyer continued.

'what the Hell are you talking about?' Aryel asked.

'didn't I tell you? Word is that Saint Roxy got herself buried alive in a cave-in. And here I was, just starting to like her.'

Aryel stood up, and threw the bottle rocket at Sawyer before taking off at a run.

--

'listen, Charlie,' Michael said. 'go slowly. 'Try not to nudge any of the rocks around you.'

'Anything else?' Charlie asked.

'Yeah, good luck.'

--

_Two years had passed, and Oz was in Sydney. He hadn't heard from any of his family. Until now that is. _

_Now his brother Eli was sitting in front of him, telling him he had to go back home._

'_I'm not coming back,' Oz said._

'_look, you have to explain things to Morgan,' Eli said. 'get back together with her, or whatever. She just needs help. It's hard for her to be a single mother.'_

'_what?' Oz said._

'_get back together with her...?' he said._

'_no. She's a single mother?' _

'_yeah, because you walked out on her because she was pregnant, 'Eli said._

'_I...I didn't know she was pregnant,' Oz said._

'_we assumed that's why you left,' Eli said._

'_I didn't know. Where is she?' he asked._

'_LA.'_

'_what's his or her name?' Oz asked._

_Eli opened his wallet and passed a picture of Morgan and a baby. 'his name is Oscar.'_

--

'I'm bored. Anyone else bored? Coz I am.'

'we established that Roxy, thanks,' Laura said.

There was a sound and Charlie crawled into the small part they were in.

'Hi. I'm... I'm here to rescue you,' Charlie said.

'wow, that was dramatic,' Laura said sarcastically.

And then the cave crumbled around them again.

'....did that just block our way out?' Oz asked.

'yeah,' Charlie said.

--

'shut up!' Maya yelled to the people at the caves, trying to find out what to do. They were really loud.

'Where is she? Where is she?' Aryel asked, running in.

'Aryel,' Max began.

'Where is she? Where's Aryel?' she demanded.

Hurley nodded to the rocks where they were trapped. 'She's in there.'

'of course she is!' Aryel exclaimed. 'because on mystery frickin' island everything always goes wrong! Why is nobody digging?' she yelled.

She went over and started moving the rocks. Kate, Jenny and Max joined her.

--

'how long's it been, Charlie?' Oz asked, seeing Charlie's hand shaking.

'I don't know what you're going on about,' Charlie said.

'How long since your last fix?' Oz said bluntly. Roxy and Laura exchanged a look.

'Almost a day and a half,' he confessed.

'How's the withdrawal treating you? Any hallucinations?'

'no. How would you even know about this?'

'I was in a band, Charlie,' he smiled. 'do the math.' He turned to the other two. 'if you guys mention this to anyone, you will regret it.'

They both nodded.

'....so, anyone want to put my shoulder back in place?' Roxy asked.

Thirty seconds later she yelled out in pain.

--

Michelle saw the rocket go off, and she lit hers.

A second later, another one was lit.

She smiled.

--

'This place, it reminds me of confession, those little claustrophobic booths,' Charlie said.

'huh. I wouldn't have thought you were religious,' Laura said.

'I used to be.' Charlie got distracted.

'what is it?' Roxy asked.

'It's a moth,' Charlie said. 'there's some light!'

--

'Hey Aryel, you need to take a break,' Michael said.

'I'm fine,' Aryel said.

'We've got enough people to dig. You keep going at this pace you're going to kill yourself,' he said.

'then I'll kill myself,' she muttered.

--

Charlie, Oz, Roxy and Laura were digging, trying to get out.

--

Jason turned to take a mouthful of water and almost choked on it.

Charlie, Oz, Roxy and Laura were there.

He smiled at Laura. 'hey, guys,' he turned to the others. 'Stop.'

One by one, they all stopped, apart from Aryel and Jenny.

'I'm not going to fucking stop!' Aryel exclaimed, turning her head to look at him. 'unlike all of you, I haven't given up ho- Roxy!'

She pushed past them all, hugging Roxy tightly.

Jenny went and hugged Laura.

'how'd you get out?' Michael asked.

'Charlie, Charlie found a way out,' Oz said.

Jason walked up to Laura. They smiled at each other.

'you're still an asshole,' she said.

'you're still a bitch,' he retaliated.

She leaned over and hugged him.

--

Later, Yoon walked the children back to the caves.

'Oz!' Lucy yelled, running over to the man and hugging him around his waist.

Oz smiled at her and hugged her back.

--

Kate sat down next to Jack.

'so these are the safe caves you've been talking about?'

'This was a fluke. Michael checked out the integrity of the rest of the caves and gave them an okay. So you're heading back to the beach, huh?'

'Sayid should be back there by now and if his plan worked then...'

'Then we're one step closer to getting off this island,' Jack finished.

--

On the other side of the island, Akilina passed Damien a piece of a mango, just as Ana Lucia and Constance walked up to them.

'hey-' Damien began in greeting before Ana punched Akilina, knocking her to the ground.

'what are you doing?!' Layla shrieked.

'let them,' Induala said softly as they all followed Ana, who had picked up Akilina and taken her to the now finished pit.

'you and I are going to have a little talk, Akilina,' Ana said to her. 'but then again, you can't understand me, can you?'

Akilina sighed angrily. 'of course I can understand you,' she hissed. 'I speak English.'

Needless to say, the rest of them were completely shocked.

_--_

**So the next chapter should be up soon.**


	12. I'll Be There For You Through it All

**Hey! Here's the next chapter. Also known as my Christmas gift to all of you. Enjoy!**

Sammy watched moodily as Yoon changed James's bandages and the two of them talked and laughed.

'if I didn't know you, Gladiator,' Sawyer said from behind Sammy. 'I'd say you're jealous of him.'

'shove it,' Sammy snapped.

--

Kat sat across from Ben.

'we can start getting some of them into houses, Kat,' Ben was saying to her.

She wasn't listening; she was just sitting there, staring into space.

'Kat?' Ben asked. 'Kat? Katarina!'

Kat looked at him.

'is something wrong?' Ben asked her.

'what? No, no. So we're going to put some in houses?' she asked.

'yes,' he paused. 'you're worried.'

'am I?' she asked.

'it's like this every time Izzie comes back.'

'that woman needs to wear gloves or something. Every time she touches someone, she tells them something will happen. She told me that I won't be happy soon. And do you remember before Josephine was born?' she asked. 'do you remember what she told me?'

'I do,' he said. 'it will work out okay, Kat. It always does.'

--

Yoon walked into the caves and walked straight over to Jack, who was talking to Kate.

'Jack,' she said. 'it's getting worse.'

'excuse me,' he said to Kate. Kate walked away. 'how many times a day?'

'about five or six. I've already had four contractions today, and it's not even noon,' she confessed.

'okay, take it easy then,' Jack said. 'stay either here, or at the beach, somewhere where a doctor is.'

'I-'

'a doctor other then yourself,' he sighed.

'fine,' she said, walking over to Hurley. 'I'll be over here, talking to my good friend, Hurley.'

'what?' Hurley asked.

Yoon placed a hand on his shoulder. 'I'm just going to sit here, and talk to you, no ulterior motive.'

Hurley looked at Erica, who was next to him.

Erica raised her eyebrows. Sure. Yoon _always _had an ulterior motive.

'so Hurley,' Yoon said. 'why were you in Australia?'

Hurley opened his mouth to reply, but got distracted. 'Dude...' he trailed off, looking at the entrance to the cave.

Yoon and Erica turned and looked to see Shannon and Boone enter the caves. Boone was covered in blood.

'What happened?' Jack asked.

'Sawyer,' Boone said.

'of course,' Erica rolled her eyes. 'when there's drama, it's Sawyer's fault.'

--

On the other side of the island, Layla walked over to Ana.

'this is ridiculous, Ana Lucia,' she said. 'Akilina is not one of them.'

'well, then how do you explain her pretending not to speak English?' Ana demanded.

Layla didn't have an answer.

--

'Shannon has asthma?' Jack asked as he patched up Boone. 'I've never seen her have an attack before.'

'Because she had an inhaler. She's sneaks hits when no one's looking. She's been embarrassed about it since she was a little kid. I guess breathing's not cool.'

'I'm sorry, but did you say had?' Yoon asked. She really couldn't see why they had so much drama on the island.

'it ran out,' Boone said. 'I had some refills though, and today I see that jackass reading _Watership Down_.'

'You're losing me,' Jack said.

'it was in my bags, the stuff that I checked. If he has my book he has my luggage, if he has the luggage he has the inhalers. Her breathing got really rough today, man.'

Jack and Yoon looked at each other. And if she had an attack, it wouldn't be good. They both knew that.

Jack and Yoon both looked over at Shannon, whose breathing was rough.

Jack looked at Yoon questionably.

'yeah, yeah,' she waved him off. 'you go beat the living Hell out of Sawyer, and I'll get in the loop again and look after him,' she gestured to Boone.

Jack nodded and walked off.

--

'blue.'

'yellow.'

'metal.'

'classical.'

'vodka.'

'tequila.'

'the dark.'

'that we have in common,' Josie said. As usual, the two of them were sitting away from the others, and as usual they were acting like they didn't actually like each other, just had nowhere else to be.

'I hate you two,' Eli said, sitting down next to them.

'why?' Luka asked.

'because I am addicted to smoking now,' he explained.

'told you,' Luka said.

'so Josie,' Eli turned to her. 'where are you actually from?'

'Nice,' she said.

'what?'

'it's in France,' she told him. She had remembered years ago that her mother had told her how that was where she was from.

'never heard of it,' Luka said.

'where are you from, Luka?' Josie asked.

'Omsk.'

'what?' Eli said.

'Russia,' he said.

'guess we're even then,' Josie said. 'I've never heard of where you live.'

--

Jack walked over to Sawyer's tent, an angry look on his face.

'Where is it?' Jack asked looking around Sawyer's tent.

'Where's what?' Sawyer asked.

'the asthma medicine. Shannon's inhalers,' Jack said.

'of course. Whenever something's missing, it's always Sawyer.'

'You attacked a kid for trying to help his sick sister.'

'No, he was going through my stuff. And ain't this the guy who stole the water awhile back? How can I trust a guy like that?' Sawyer asked. Of course, everyone knew if you had to trust either Boone or Sawyer with something, you would pick Boone in a heartbeat. 'Look, I don't know what kind of share-fest you're running over in cave town, but down here possession's 9/10ths. And a man's got a right to protect his property.'

'Get up,' Jack said.

'Why, you want to see who's taller?' Sawyer asked sarcastically.

'Get up.'

'You sure you want to make this your problem, Doc?' Sawyer asked.

'Oh yeah. I'm sure,' Jack said.

Sawyer got up as Kate and Max walked in the tent.

'what's going on?' Max asked.

Jack walked out of the tent and the other two followed.

--

'you want to hit me?' Akilina laughed bitterly. 'go ahead.'

Ana went to hit the girl, but Induala stopped her.

'no matter what, Ana Lucia,' Induala said softly. 'you shouldn't hit people. It doesn't solve anything.'

'I bet it would make her feel better,' Ashley said.

'you guys scare her, you know that right?' Induala said, leading them away from the pit.

'why did she pretend she didn't speak English though?' Erin asked.

'I don't know,' Induala confessed. 'but she probably had a good reason.'

'and do you know her reason?' Ana asked.

Induala sighed. She turned to Lucian. 'hit me,' she said.

'come again?' he asked in surprise.

'look, we want to know if she is one of them, so hit me, pretend you think I'm one, and we'll find if she is one of them. So hit me,' Induala said. she didn't know why she was asking them to hit her. Sure, she knew it was to figure out about Akilina, but she had known too much abuse to want this to happen.

'I will not hit you, Induala,' Lucian said. it was against all his morals to hit a woman.

Constance nodded after thinking about what Induala had said. 'it seems rational,' she said. she walked over to Induala and punched her. Induala spat out some blood. 'sorry,' Constance said.

'now who wants to push me in there?' Induala asked.

--

'I'm going to kill him,' Jack said.

'please do,' Aryel said. 'it would serve as the most entertainment we've had on this island.'

'no, seeing you scream at us all during the cave-in was good,' Jason said.

'and Yoon kicking Boone's face in when he had the water was too,' Charlie added.

'ooh, Sayid and Sawyer's fight,' Laura added.

'and-'

'okay, we get it!' Jack exclaimed.

'Let me talk to Sawyer,' Kate sighed.

'What makes you think he's going to listen to you?' Jack asked.

'He says we have a connection.'

'Do you?' Jack asked.

'jealous, Jack?' Aryel said.

'Please,' Kate rolled her eyes. She walked off, to where Sawyer was.

'anyone else think this would be fun to watch?' Laura asked, following Kate. Jennifer and Jason followed her too.

--

_A young Akilina was sitting inside a building._

'_thank you for all that you have done for me, Alexei,' she said in flawless English to the man in front of her._

'_your mother, Akilina, would be proud that you are standing up for yourself,' he said. 'she would be proud that you are learning English. That you have learnt English.'_

'_you think so?' she asked._

'_I know so,' he said. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. 'anytime you need me, Akilina.'_

'_I'll call you,' she said. He nodded and walked out of the room._

_She sighed. She really wished her mother was there._

--

Akilina watched as Induala came to. She wondered if the Indian woman was the real spy. She hoped she wasn't. Induala was a nice woman.

'Induala?' Akilina asked softly.

Induala groaned and looked at the Russian girl.

'do they think you're one of them?' Akilina asked.

'they do,' Induala nodded, hating that she was lying to this girl. But it was the only way they could know for sure.

'that's what they think with me too,' she sighed. 'I'm not. I swear I'm not.'

'neither am I.'

--

Hayden was sitting on the front porch of her home, a book in her lap as her hand ran across the Braille lined pages.

'you're not actually reading it, are you?' Gus asked, walking over.

'no,' she said, closing it. 'there's something about that new girl...' she trailed off.

'she's technically not new,' Gus said. 'she's apparently a psychometric, according to Josh.'

'a psychometric?' Hayden asked.

'yeah. She touches you she sees the past, present and future. She's been able to do it her whole life,' he added. 'you should talk to her about your dreams.'

Her dreams. Of course. The dreams where she saw things. Where she saw things for the first time ever. But although she should be happy about this, she saw death and destruction. Flaming arrows through the sky. A hand with some writing on it. She sometimes heard some voices. Once there was a voice, Kat or her sister, it sounded like, repeating the phrase _"she's gone because of you. My daughter is gone because of you". _Another time the words _"thank you so much for lying to me_", and it sounded like Lani.

There was also someone kneeling over a man. The other person was a short blonde woman, her eyes unseeing.

It was Hayden.

And she was sobbing one word, over and over the body surrounded by blood.

"_Gus!"_

--

'what is your problem?' Kate asked Sawyer, walking over to him.

'Excuse me?' he asked her, looking up from a book.

'What do you want, Sawyer?' she asked.

'ooh, you mean business,' he said.

'what do you want?' Laura, Jennifer and Kate all exclaimed in anger.

'I got so many answers to that question, I wouldn't even know where to start,' he said.

'where are the inhalers, and what do you want for them?' Kate demanded.

'ah, good question,' he said, putting down the book. 'a kiss ought to do it.'

The three women exchanged looks. Was he serious?

'you are truly out of your mind,' Jason growled.

'I don't buy it,' Kate said to Sawyer.

'Buy what?' he asked.

'The act. You try too hard, Sawyer. I ask you to help a woman who can't breath and you want me to kiss you? Nobody's that disgusting. I've seen you, you know.'

'Seen me what?' Sawyer asked.

'With that piece of paper – the one you keep in your pocket.'

'ooh, honey, I'd stop there,' Jennifer said, seeing Sawyer's face darken.

'it means something to you,' Kate said. 'So you can play games all you want, but I know there's a human being in there somewhere. Give me the inhalers.'

'You think you understand me?' Sawyer asked.

'Yeah. I think I have-'

'Shut up,' he growled, taking the letter out of his pocket. 'You want to know what kind of human being I am? Read it. Go on. Out loud.'

Kate looked at him and then the other three before looking down at the letter and reading it out.

''Dear Mr. Sawyer, you don't know who I am but I know who you are and I know what you done',' she read out. ''You had sex with my mother and then you stole my dad's money all away. So he got angry and he killed my mother and then he killed himself, too.''

Kate stopped reading, getting a partly horrified look on her face.

'Don't stop now. You're just getting to the good part,' his voice was dark, devoid of its usual wit.

''All I know is your name',' she continued. ''But one of these days I'm going to find you and I'm going to give you this letter so you'll remember what you done to me. You killed my parents, Mr. Sawyer.''

Kate dropped it, as if doing so would change what she had read, changed the past so she didn't read it, so she didn't know what it meant to him.

Behind her, Laura had a hand to her mouth, Jennifer's eyes were wide and Jason looked completely disgusted with Sawyer.

'so what kind of human being do you think I am?' Sawyer asked Kate.

Kate turned and walked away with the others.

'that's what I thought,' Sawyer muttered.

--

'Petro, just look after her,' Yoon sighed, looking over to where Shannon was gasping for breath. 'get her to breathe.'

'what are you going to be doing?' Petro asked her.

'I am going to find something to save her life,' she said, walking out of the caves, but not before grabbing her sister's arm and pulling her out with her.

As the two of them left, Jack passed them and walked over to the medicine, trying to find something.

'not going to work,' Petro told him. 'Yoon and I already checked.'

Jack ignored him, and kept looking through the medicine.

At that moment, Sawyer walked in the caves.

Jack saw him and walked over to him.

'Give me the inhalers now,' Jack demanded.

'Hell, I wondered when you were going to stop asking nice,' Sawyer said to him.

Jack punched him in the jaw.

'Jack!' Roxy exclaimed.

'leave it, Rox,' Aryel said.

'Been telling you since day one, we're in the wild. Didn't think you had it in you,' Sawyer said to Jack.

Jack hit him again.

'that all you got?' Sawyer asked. Jack looked at Roxy and Aryel. He turned and saw that Michael, Maya and Oz were turning Walt, Deniz and Lucy away from the fight. Michelle looked shocked, from next to Max and Sammy, who were mirroring the shock on their faces.

Jack walked away from Sawyer.

--

_Akilina was sitting a room, her eyes watching the TV, but her mind not processing it. She was thinking about all she would do if she could escape her father._

_She was thinking of a life without a punch each night._

_At that moment, a phone went off, and she picked it up._

'_hello?' she said in her native language. _

'_Miss Sokolovna? Akilina Sokolovna?' a Russian voice said. Akilina frowned. Who would be calling her at this time?_

'_yes?' she said._

'_my name is Anja. Anja Ivanov. I need to meet with you.'_

'_I don't think so. I don't know you.'_

'_it's about your mother's death.'_

_Akilina was all ears._

_--_

'why did you pretend you couldn't speak English?' Induala asked Akilina softly.

'my father refused me to speak English,' Akilina said. 'I learnt it anyway. I have grown used to pretending, and a thought we would find them soon anyway. He would be terribly mad.'

Induala turned to the girl, and only just realized that on her shoulder, where her shirt was ripped. There was a huge bruise, an old one. Induala knew the difference between a new bruise and an old one, she had them often enough.

'did he hit you?' Induala asked.

Akilina's head shot up. 'what? Why would you ask that?'

'because I can see your bruise,' she said.

'that's from the crash.'

'okay,' Induala said.

She did not believe her one bit.

--

'seriously, Sun,' Yoon sighed as they looked around the jungle for eucalyptus plants. 'you should just tell Jin, before this all blows up in your face.'

'that will not happen, Yoon,' she said. 'it won't.'

Yoon opened her mouth, stopped and rubbed her stomach, frowning, before she continued. 'in the end, Sun, the truth comes out.'

They both hoped theirs wouldn't.

--

Sawyer was sleeping in his tent. He opened his eyes to see Sayid standing there, a metal pole in his hands.

'good morning,' Sayid said. he then promptly knocked Sawyer out with the pole.

--

'what are you doing?' Kate asked, watching Jack and Sayid drag Sawyer into the jungle.

'this is his choice,' Jack said. 'not mine.'

'I applaud his choice,' Jason said, jogging after them.

'as do I,' Jenny and Laura smirked, following them.

--

'yes!' Max exclaimed.

'what is it?' Claire asked him.

'I found my board!' he exclaimed happily, picking up the surf board. He looked towards the ocean. 'will you be okay here by yourself?'

She smiled. 'go.'

--

'why do we have to be fucking cage?' Flick said.

'Felicity,' Eva warned.

'I'm sorry, why do we have to be in this fucking enclosure?' she said.

Dom coughed to hide a laugh.

'Felicity,' Eva said tiredly.

'don't bother, Evangeline,' Kat said. 'she's a Morel. They don't listen to their mothers, you know that. Come on,' she said, opening the cage. 'we need to go somewhere,' she said to her sister.

'where?'

'ask no questions I tell no lies,' she said. across the Barracks she saw Hayden. 'oi!' Kat yelled. 'Shephard! Get your ass over here!'

'and where might you be?' she asked.

'cages.'

Hayden walked over to her.

'what do you want?' she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

'Chang needs to see you,' Kat said.

'Chang? Doctor Chang? Why?'

'yes, Doctor Chang, but not the one you're thinking of. Izzie,' the name was forced, as if it disgusted her to say it.

'fuck,' Hayden muttered softly, her lips barely moving. 'I'll head over there now.'

'okay, you do that,' Kat said. 'let's go, Eva,' the two started walking off. 'Shephard! I did hear that bit you tried to hide,' she called over her shoulder. 'my sentiments exactly!'

--

'how long do you think he'll hold out?' Jennifer said as she stood by Jack, Jason and Laura as they watched Sayid torture Sawyer.

'another fifteen minutes at the most,' Jason said.

'all we need now is popc-' Laura was cut off by Sawyer screaming in pain.

'Sayid!' Jack exclaimed. Sayid kept digging the bamboo underneath Sawyer's fingernails. 'what the Hell is wrong with you?'

'Where is it?' Sayid asked.

'I'll tell you. But first I want a little somethin'. A kiss.'

Laura laughed bitterly. 'you want a fucking kiss? You want a kiss despite the fact that if you do not hand over the inhalers then we will rip you to shreds? Damn, always knew you had a sick and twisted mind, but this is a new level. You want your kiss?' she asked, walking over and roughly grabbing his head. She kissed him, a very violent kiss, it was like she was trying to destroy him with the one little kiss. Jenny looked sideways at Jason, who was trying not to react to the kiss. She smirked. He probably wished it was him kissing Laura. Obviously not in Sawyer's situation though.

Laura broke away from Sawyer and he smirked. 'there's your kiss,' Laura said angrily.

'I ain't got them.'

Laura's jaw dropped. Soon her shock was replaced by anger and she punched him, square in the face. 'you son of a bitch! You son of a bitch!'

Jason ran forward and grabbed her arms, pulling her back.

'let go of me,' she hissed.

'Laura,' he said softly in her ear. 'yes, he deserves it. Yes, he's a son of a bitch. But let the torturer do his job.'

'he's lying,' Sayid said.

'what?' Jennifer asked, tearing her eyes away in awe from Laura and Jason.

'He's been lying from the beginning. He doesn't want us to get off this island. That's why he attacked me. That's why he destroyed the transceiver.'

'hold on,' Jack said. 'you don't know that. Sayid!' he yelled when Sayid ran back to Sawyer, who got out of the bindings. Sayid and Sawyer wrestled until they suddenly stopped, Sayid's knife sticking out of Sawyer's arm.

'shit,' Jason said. he let go of Laura, who he was still holding, and along with Jack they ran forward. Jack pulled out the knife, and blood spurted out.

'an artery was hit,' Jason confirmed, putting pressure on the wound.

'Sayid, I need my stuff from the caves, my leather backpack. Go,' Jack said.

Sayid ran off and Jason tried to stop the bleeding.

--

Hayden walked over to a house and knocked on the door. The door opened and she waited for the person to speak.

'Hayden? What are you doing here?' a voice asked. She knew it to be the voice of Matthew Chang, the brother of Izzie.

'I got instructed to come here to see your sister,' she explained.

'oh? You can see now?' he asked. Although she couldn't see it, he was smirking.

She scowled and covered her mouth with her hand. 'and can you hear now?' she asked, smirking.

'that's bitchy, Hayden,' Matt said, letting her in.

'and what you did wasn't?' she asked.

'okay, okay, sorry,' she said, as they walked into the kitchen, where Izzie was.

'who's this, and what's she sorry for?' Izzie asked.

'this is Hayden Shephard, our resident blind girl,' Matt said, still with the smirk.

'as opposed to our resident deaf guy?' she retaliated.

Izzie looked shocked. 'she knows you're deaf?' Izzie knew that Matt hated people to know that he couldn't hear anything, because he hated them to feel sorry for him.

'course she does,' Matt said. 'she was ranting about no one knows what it's like to not have one of your senses, and I told her.'

'oh, isn't that sweet?' she asked.

'yeah, anyway, Hayden's here to see you,' Matt said.

'to see me?' she asked.

'he just did that joke,' Hayden said. 'Kat sent me over.'

'of course,' she said. 'disappear, Matthew,' she added. Matt left and Izzie turned to Hayden. 'I think Angus said you should come see me.'

'of course he did,' she rolled her unseeing eyes.

'about what?'

'is it true you're a psychometric?' she asked.

'It is.'

'I've never been able to see, okay?' she said. 'but since this plane crash....I've been having dreams. I see things in them. And they're kind of...disturbing.'

'how so?'

'I've seen death and destruction in them. Gus thought you could help me make sense of them.'

'I could try,' she said. 'could I have your hands?'

Hayden reached over and held out her hands to Izzie. Izzie took her hands and closed her eyes.

After a minute she let go suddenly.

'oh God,' Izzie said.

'what? What is it?' she asked, panicking.

'you are going to have to save him,' she told her. 'save him.'

'who? Who am I saving?'

'the one you love.'

Hayden gasped.

Her dreams were true.

Gus _was_ going to be in danger.

--

_Akilina walked into a bar, looking for a red napkin with a sugar cube on the corner. The way she could tell who Anja was._

'_Anja?' she asked, sitting down._

'_Akilina. Hello,' she said. 'I apologise for bringing you down here, but I have some information you might like to know.'_

_She handed her a folder. Akilina began reading it, her eyes widening._

_She looked up after she was done. 'wh-?' she began, but the woman was gone._

_She sat there for a moment before taking out her phone and dialling a number._

'_hello?' a Russian voice said._

'_you said anytime I needed you,' she said._

'_what is it, Akilina?' Alexei asked._

'_we need to meet. Now.'_

'_isn't it a bit late?'_

'_now, Alexei,' she said._

'_okay. You know where.' He hung up the phone and she walked out of the bar, feeling her guns as she went._

_He needed to feel what he had done to her._

_--_

'okay, yes,' Akilina said, breaking the silence.

'what?' Induala asked.

'my father. Yes. He did hit me.'

'oh, Akilina....' Induala said. yes, she had put up with abuse for years, but no child should have to do that.

'he gets angry. And he's extremely violent,' she said. 'and he scared me, somewhat. Isn't that a bit wrong? That my father scares me?'

'it is. my husband hit me,' Induala said softly. 'and he scared me too. Isn't life just a bit wrong?'

'it is.' A tear slipped down her cheek. Induala reached out and held Akilina. Akilina started to sob.

'shh, Akilina,' Induala soothed. 'it's okay, sweetheart. It's okay.'

--

'it's getting worse,' Boone said to Petro, urgently. 'she can't breathe.'

'she will be able to in a minute,' Yoon said, walking in the caves with Sun. They had the eucalyptus leaves in their hands. Yoon stopped short and rubbed her stomach.

'Yoon?' Sun said.

'you do it. She's kicking me, really hard,' Yoon lied.

'okay,' she said in Korean, walking towards Shannon.

Petro looked at Yoon. 'she wasn't kicking, was she?'

'she wasn't.'

--

Later that day, Kate, Jenny and Laura waited for Sawyer to wake up. When he did, Kate spoke.

'you're lucky to be alive,' she said.

Laura held up the letter. 'we read through it. Again and again.'

'and again and again,' Jenny said.

'we've been trying to figure out why you beat up Boone instead of just telling him you didn't have his sister's medication. Why you pretended to have it anyway,' Kate said.

'The thing that we kept coming back around to is that you want to be hated,' Laura said.

'Then we looked at the envelope – America's bicentennial, Knoxville, TN. You were just a kid, 8 maybe 9 years old,' Jenny said. 'This letter wasn't written to you. You wrote this letter. Your name's not Sawyer, is it?'

'It was his name,' he said to them. 'He was a confidence man. Romanced my momma to get to the money, wiped them out clean, left a mess behind. So I wrote that letter. I wrote it knowing one day I'd find him. But that ain't the sad part. When I was 19, I needed 6 grand to pay these guys off I was in trouble with. So I found a pretty lady with a dumb husband who had some money. And I got them to give it to me. How's that for a tragedy? I became the man I was hunting. Became Sawyer. Don't you feel sorry for me,' he wrenched the letter out of Laura's hand. 'Get the Hell out. Get out!'

The three left. Laura walked over to Jason, who was just about to walk to the caves.

'hey,' she said.

'hey,' he said. 'so...you kissed Sawyer...'

'I did. And then hit him,' she added.

'I know,' he looked longingly at her. 'so why'd you kiss him?'

'to get the inhalers. Why? You feel left out?'

'maybe,' he smirked, keeping his tone light. 'you do realize it was a long kiss, right?'

She stopped and turned to him. 'it was,' she said. she leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. She walked away, back to Jenny.

'what was that?' Jason called after her.

'just a preview of the real thing,' she called over her shoulder.

He smiled after her.

--

_Akilina slowly walked down a street, looking behind her as she went. She went down an alley way and through a door._

'_you're late,' a voice said._

'_I didn't account for traffic,' she said in a cool voice. Looking at the man, she noticed that he had several guns and knives. 'you said this would just be a normal meeting, no weapons.'_

'_so did you,' he said._

'_Alexei,' Akilina said, putting down two guns. Only two though. 'if we're going to continue with this, we should at least trust each other.' Funny she said that, she knew they weren't going to continue with it._

'_I will never trust the daughter of Alisa Sokolovna. Never.'_

'_and I will never trust you,' she said. 'tell me, does it help you sleep at night, thinking that I don't know that you helped my father plot the death of my mother.'_

_She picked up another gun and shot him, right between his eyes._

_He had felt what he had done._

_--_

Sayid walked past Kate, a bag over his shoulder.

'Sayid?' she asked. 'where are you going?'

'I can't stay here,' he told her. 'I'm leaving. I don't know for how long.'

'Sayid, you can't. We still don't know what's out there.'

'I've worse things to fear than what's in the jungle. What I did today, what I almost did, I swore to do never again. If I can't keep that promise, I have no right to be here.'

'There's nowhere to go,' she pointed out.

'Someone has to walk the shore and map the island, see what else there is. I can't think of a better person to do it than the only one I trust. I hope we meet again,' he said to her. He kissed her hand and then walked away, down the beach.

--

Yoon placed a hand on the wall of the cave, taking a deep breath.

'Yoon?' Sammy asked in concern. 'are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' she hissed. 'go away.' Obviously she hadn't forgotten their conversation.

'are you sure?'

'go away,' she said.

Sammy sighed and walked over to Jack. 'Yoon's being stubborn. She's in pain,' he informed Jack.

Jack, Jason and Petro shared a knowing look and walked over to her.

'Yoon? Are you okay?' Jason asked.

'just peachy,' she hissed through clenched teeth. 'damn it, Sammy,' she muttered.

'Yoon, seriously,' Jack said.

'no, I'm not fucking okay!' she exclaimed, and several other people looked over. 'my contractions are seven minutes apart, and it fucking hurts!'

'Yoon?' Sun asked, walking over.

Yoon's eyes widened. 'oh God.'

'what is it?' Jack asked.

'my water just broke,' she said.

--

**oh no. Yoon's in trouble. Merry Christmas!**


	13. When Darkness Turns to Light

**Hey. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

It was around noon when Claire rubbed her stomach and turned to Jennifer, Max, Charlie and Laura.

'she will be okay, won't she?' Claire asked, uncertainly.

'sure she will,' Jennifer said encouragingly. 'she will be okay.'

'she's only eight months pregnant,' Claire said.

'Claire, Jason said she would be okay,' Laura said. 'and apparently Jason hasn't broken a promise to you yet.'

'no, he hasn't,' Claire smiled. It was true. Over the years, any promise Jason would make to Claire would be kept, no matter what. Jason even said that the day he breaks a promise to Claire will be the day that he dies.

'so Claire,' Jenny said. 'did you hear?'

'hear what?' Claire asked.

'Laura kissed Jason,' she said.

'no! Really?' she asked, looking at Laura. Laura suddenly became interested in her shoes.

'so, this is enough girl talk for me,' Max said. 'I'm going surfing.'

'I'm going to....' Charlie trailed off. 'go...do...something.'

The two men stood up and walked away from the girls.

'you really kissed him?' Claire asked.

'I did. And I too am going to go do something,' Laura said, leaving.

--

At the caves, Yoon was gasping in pain. Jack, Jason and Petro were surrounding her, the only other people in the caves. They had effectively kicked everyone out of the caves when Yoon went into labour, thinking that it would be easier on her.

It wasn't.

Tears were streaming down her face. 'I've been in labour for fifteen hours! I cannot do this,' she announced to them, as she followed their instructions. Sure, none of the three men had ever delivered a baby, but they all knew the theory to it.

'come on Yoon,' Jason said softly. 'you can do this.'

'no! I can't! I shouldn't be giving birth here! Or now! I am only eight months pregnant!'

'Yoon, as much as you don't want to believe it, this is happening, and you will be giving birth to your daughter soon,' Petro said bluntly.

'and she will be fine,' Jack said. 'you just have to push.'

'oh, God, Ryan, why'd you have to leave me?' Yoon asked softly, before doing exactly what they told her to do. Who was she kidding? It was her fault that he was gone.

'Yoon, grab my hand, and break it if you have to,' Jason said to her. She reached over and squeezed his hand tightly.

'now push,' Jack said. 'there's only one more to go now, Yoon.'

Yoon's face contorted in pain as she gripped Jason's hand tightly and pushed as hard as she could.

There was a sob and then a cry filled the cave. Yoon's face lit up and she looked at Jack, who was holding her baby girl.

'you have a healthy baby girl,' Jack told her, handing the baby to Yoon.

Yoon smiled and looked down at her baby girl. 'Min-Hee,' she said softly.

'what?' Petro asked.

'her name. Min-Hee Harper,' she said. she leaned over and kissed the cheek of Jason, then Jack, then Petro. 'thank you. Thank you,' she repeated.

--

Deniz was looking at a photo of her family. Her mother, father and herself.

'what are you looking at?' Lucy asked.

'this is my family, Lucy. I want to see them again,' Deniz said sadly.

'oh,' Lucy said. she took out a photo. 'this is my family. I miss them too,' she said.

Deniz looked at it. 'what are their names?'

'that's my mom, Evangeline. My dad, Remy. My older sister, Flick. And my twin sister, Mindy. But I don't know where they are anymore.'

'I don't know where my mom and dad are either,' Deniz said.

--

'_he thinks he can give advice on mom, like he knows her now,' a black haired Claire told Jason as she ate from a tub of ice cream._

'_yeah,' Jason said. He had never met the man, all he knew about the man was that he was Claire's father and he had paid for the treatment of their mother. And that he was a complete asshole._

'_he wants to take her off life support. Well, not take her off life support, but the same effect,' she said._

_He leaned over and took a mouthful of ice cream off the spoon she had._

'_hey!' she exclaimed. 'he told me not to keep her alive for the wrong reasons! Like he has a say!'_

'_yeah,' Jason said._

'_he is not my father, he is not my family!'_

'_yeah.'_

'_can you only say that?'_

'_yeah,' he smirked. She hit him playfully on the arm. 'look, maybe he has a point.'_

'_what?'_

'_she's basically brain dead anyway,' Jason said. it killed him to say it, but maybe he was right. Maybe she was better off dead._

'_what?' Claire asked in a harsh whisper._

'_Claire...'_

'_how can you say that?' she asked. 'she's our mother!'_

'_I'm looking at it from a medical point of view, Claire. That's all.'_

'_she's still our mother, Jason.'_

'_I know that,' he said. 'but she's in pain.'_

'_we are _not _giving up on our mother, Jason!'_

'_we might just have to,' Jason said grimly._

'_no!' she exclaimed. 'just...just go on your tour of Iraq!' she exclaimed. She was angry with him, she was _really _angry with him. Which was something new._

'_Claire,' he said softly. _

'_go! I'll stay here, and visit mom every day,' she said. 'while you fight for our country.'_

'_Claire...'_

'_no. Just do it.'_

_He stood up and kissed the top of her head. 'I'll see you in a couple months, a year maybe, I don't know.' He walked to the door. 'love you, Claire.'_

'_love you too,' she said softly. 'don't die on me, okay Jason?'_

--

Yoon, Jason, Jack and Petro walked onto the beach, Min-Hee in Yoon's arms. She was smiling brightly.

Slowly, a group formed around them, all admiring the baby.

Sun made her way to the front. Yoon smiled at her and the two had a rapid conversation in Korean, which finished with the sisters hugging.

Claire walked over and stood in front of Yoon. Yoon smiled at her.

'don't worry, Claire,' she said. 'this isn't going to happen to you.'

Claire smiled. 'what's her name?'

'Min-Hee,' Yoon smiled.

'she's beautiful.'

'she is, isn't she?'

--

'don't leave me heartbroken,' Hayden sang as she played the piano. 'don't let our future be unwritten,' she stopped playing and a tear fell down her cheek.

'that's a new song,' a voice said from behind her.

'I just wrote it,' Hayden told Gus, not turning around to him. She wiped away her tear quickly and finally turned.

'have you been crying?' Gus asked.

'...no,' she said.

'Hayden,' Gus said softly.

'Angus,' she said.

He looked at her. He crossed the room to where she was and took her in his arms.

'don't!' she exclaimed, trying to get out of his embrace. 'let go of me!' she struggled, and started crying. God, she had written songs about heartbreak, but the actual feeling of it was like sticking a knife in her heart and turning it. Only worse. She knew that Gus was going to die if she didn't save him, but what if she couldn't? That is what tore her apart. The fact that it would be her fault. That's why she had cried. But he couldn't know that.

She slid to the ground in lost hope and Gus held her still, kissing the top of her head.

He didn't know what had her so broken, but it killed him that she was. So he just held her, comforted her, hoping to ease her pain anyway he could.

--

Later that night, a blood curdling scream echoed around the caves.

The scream came from Claire.

Charlie and Jason ran up to her. Jack, Hurley, Laura, Sun, Jin and Michael all ran over too.

'Claire, it's alright,' Jason said, taking his sisters arms to steady her. 'you were dreaming. Okay? You were just dreaming.'

Charlie looked at her hands. They were covered in blood.

'Claire, what happened?'

--

'seriously Claire,' Jason said as he bandaged his sisters hands. 'do you think you dug your fingernails in far enough?' he asked sarcastically.

'it's not that bad,' Claire said.

'quarter of an inch, Claire,' he told her. 'that how far you dug your nails in.'

'have you ever sleep-walked before?' Jack asked her.

'No. I don't think so. How would I know?' she asked.

'It'll get back to you. How was your OB-GYN in Sydney?'

'Good. She was good.'

'She was okay with letting you fly in your third trimester?'

'Yeah, I went for a check-up the week before and she said it'd be fine,' Claire said.

'Ultrasound was cool?' Jack asked.

'umm....yeah, I think so,' she said. 'Jason understood it better.'

'yeah,' Jason said. 'very healthy.'

'Are you eating enough?' Jack asked her.

'Boar and bananas,' she said.

Jack nodded, and walked away. Jason turned to her.

'you sure you're okay, Claire?'

She nodded.

--

The next morning, Yoon was surrounded by Charlie, Sun, Jin, Roxy and Maya.

'back off, guys,' Yoon said, then repeated it in Korean for Jin's benefit.

'you need to rest,' Roxy told her. 'after giving birth in a hospital they would have you sleep. The nurses would take your baby.'

'I'm not in a hospital.'

'stop being a stubborn little bitch,' Sammy said, walking past.

'I don't believe anyone was asking you,' she said.

'Yoon, I can take her for awhile,' Sun said in Korean.

'you should sleep,' Jin added in Korean.

'What if she needs something?' Yoon said to them.

'You'll be there for her – after you sleep,' Jin told her.

Yoon nodded and passed Min-Hee to Sun. 'be really careful, okay?'

'I will,' Sun said.

--

Cam walked over to the cages and opened one of them. 'let's go, Felicity.'

'what?' Eva asked.

'calm down, Evangeline,' Cam said. 'she's a Morel. We're seeing if she's like the rest of you.'

Eva's eyes darkened. 'if you do what they did to us...'

'now would I do that?' Cam asked her.

'I know you, Camilla. You would.'

'well, even if I was going to do that,' she grabbed Flick's arm. 'there's nothing you can do to stop it.'

Cam pulled Felicity away from the cages. She was not going to do that, but there was nothing like making Eva sweat it out, right?

--

Ben walked over to Kat.

'Kat,' he said. 'Cam, Juliet, Izzie and Matt are going to be running some tests on Felicity,' he told her.

'okay,' she said.

'we need you to go and get Josephine for the night, to speed along the tests.'

'no,' Kat said. 'I cannot jeopardize her position.'

'they will not notice she's gone. If she's done her job right.'

Kat sighed, knowing she hadn't. But Ben couldn't know that. 'fine,' she said. 'I'm going right now.'

--

_Jason went to knock on the door of his sisters apartment, when it opened. Jason looked at the man standing there._

'_who are you?' the man asked him._

'_who are you?' Jason shot back, trying to pass him._

'_look-'_

'_no, you look,' Jason said. 'I just want to see Claire, because I just got back from my second tour and I miss her.'_

'_are you some ex-boyfriend of hers?' the guy asked._

_Jason laughed and pushed past him. 'Claire!' he yelled out._

'_hey-' the man began._

'_Jason!' Claire exclaimed, walking out of her room and hugging him. Obviously the argument they had before he left was long forgotten. Which he was thankful for. He had no idea what had been going on in his head when he had been telling Claire that they should give up on their mother._

'_you changed your hair back to blonde,' he said. 'I always preferred it blonde.'_

'_Claire, who is this guy?' the guy from the door asked._

'_Thomas, this is my brother and best friend, Jason,' she smiled brightly. 'Jason, this is my boyfriend, Thomas.'_

'_boyfriend, eh, Claire?' Jason smirked._

_Claire traced a scar on his jaw line. 'what happened? That's new.'_

'_we have a lot to talk about,' Jason said._

_--_

As it hit sunset at the survivors camp, Josie walked into the jungle. She had seen her mother a bit beforehand, but couldn't compromise her position. She had told Luka she was going to the caves for the night, but she was lying. She knew her mother needed something.

'what is it, Katarina?' Josie asked.

'let's get moving,' Kat said, running back the way she had came. Josie followed her, and the two ran side by side.

'what is it?' Josie repeated.

'your abilities are needed.'

--

Deniz watched as her aunt slept. For some reason, she thought that Maya was lying to her. What if her father had no intention of coming back? What if he just abandoned her? It seemed like something he would do.

Maybe Maya was protecting her from the truth. Maybe.

Or maybe she was in on it.

--

Across the island, Izzie, Matt, Richard, Cam, Juliet and Scar were in a room with Flick. Matt and Juliet were hooking Flick up to a machine as the others waited. The two stood back after a minute and walked over to where a computer was set up with screens monitoring Flick's vitals. Everyone sat or stood behind them.

They waited.

'what....what are we waiting for?' Flick asked.

The door opened and Kat and Josie walked in. 'sorry,' Kat said. 'took us a bit longer than we thought.'

Josie and Flick looked at each other in shock. The two girls looked so alike, that it was kind of freaky. The difference between them was their hair colour and length. Josie's was Blonde and long, while Flick's was red and short. Other than that, they were the same. Same skin, same eyes, same mouths, same height basically.

'wow,' Cam said. 'I forgot how alike you Morel's turn out to be. We just need Emmeline here, and then it will be really freaky.'

Matt and Juliet walked forward, connecting Josie to the other machine in the room.

Josie and Flick eyed each other as the tests began.

--

At the caves, Jack's eyes shot open when he heard a scream.

It was Claire screaming.

Jack ran over, followed by a few other people. Jason was trying to calm her down.

'what's going on?' Jack asked.

'someone attacked her,' Jason said.

'What?' Jack asked.

'He held me down,' Claire explained hysterically.

'Which way did he go? How long ago?' Michael asked.

'I don't know. I couldn't see. Just now, just now, he just ran away,' Claire said.

'We should find out, check the surrounding caves,' Charlie said. 'Hurley, let's go.'

Jack looked at Claire. 'let's sit down here, okay?' he said. he turned to Ethan. 'go get her some water.'

'yeah, sure,' he said, running off.

'Did you get a look at him, at all?' Maya asked Claire.

'No, it was dark. I couldn't see,' Claire said.

'Where did this happen?' Jack asked her.

'It was here. I, I was sleeping and I woke up and he was trying to hurt my baby. He had this... this thing – like... like a needle. And he stabbed me with it. He was trying to hurt my baby,' she cried. Yoon frowned and held Min-Hee close to her.

'it's okay, Claire,' Jason soothed, putting his arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder.

--

Ten minutes later, Jack was standing with Hurley, Aryel and Oz.

'nothing,' Oz said. 'no one saw anything.'

'So, I had an idea,' Hurley said. 'I'm out here looking for some psycho with Scott and Steve, right? And I'm realizing who the hell are Scott and Steve?'

'Scott and Steve are the two people that no one knows which is which, despite the fact they don't look like each other, and only met on the island,' Aryel said.

'dude, not my point,' Hurley said. 'Look, if I was a cop and some woman got attacked, we'd canvas, right? Knock on doors, find witnesses. But we don't even have doors.'

'you're not making any sense,' Jack said.

'Look, we don't know who's living here and who's still at the beach. I mean, we don't even know each other. My name isn't Hurley, it's Hugo Reyes. Hurley's just a nickname I have, alright? Why? I'm not telling. The point is, we've got to find out who everyone is.'

Aryel laughed. 'you want to start a census?' she asked.

'Yeah, a registry, you know, names, what people look like, who's related to who. I mean, we start laying down the law, maybe we'll stop attacking each other. It seems like someone's getting punched, or stabbed, or something every other day here. We've got to find out who did this to her.'

'you have a point,' Aryel said. 'Sawyer's been stabbed, kicked in the face, tortured, punched, and who knows what else. Boone's been punched and kicked. Laura and Jason, they probably attacked each other at one point. Same with Luka and Josie. And-'

'we get it, Aryel,' Jack sighed.

--

'is she alright?' Laura asked Jason softly. The two were looking at Claire, who had a blanket draped around her shoulders and was staring into the distance.

'no, she's not,' he said softly. 'I better get back to her.'

He walked over and sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder.

'Don't worry, you want to close your eyes, I'll be here all night,' Jason said to her. 'I will not sleep and I will not let anyone get anywhere near you. I won't leave you, Claire.'

'Jase-'

'and have I broken a promise yet?' he asked.

Claire smiled and her head fell on his shoulder.

--

'is she okay, Chachi?' Deniz asked Maya.

'I think so, Den,' she said.

'was it a nightmare?'

'I don't know.'

'is someone really after her?'

'I don't know.'

'because I would be scared if I was her.'

'Deniz,' Maya said calmly, stopping her from continuing.

Deniz scowled and rolled over, her back towards Maya.

--

_A few years passed, and Jason walked into Claire's apartment, the one she shared with Thomas. _

'_hey,' Jason said. 'where's Thomas?'_

'_the shops,' she said. She was smiling._

'_I have something to tell you,' Jason said._

'_really? I have something to tell you too,' Claire said. 'but you go first.'_

'_no, go ahead,' he said._

'_no, you.'_

'_no, you.'_

'_same time?'_

'_same time,' he said._

'_I'm pregnant.'_

'_I'm going back for my third tour.'_

_The two looked at each other in shock._

'_you're pregnant?!'_

'_you're going back?!'_

'_scratch that, no I'm not,' Jason said._

'_why not?' she asked._

'_you are pregnant,' Jason said. 'I'm staying.'_

'_you are going,' Claire crossed her arms over chest in a "its final" kind of way._

'_no, I'm not,' Jason said._

'_you are.'_

'_am not.'_

'_are too.'_

'_Claire...'_

'_Jason...'_

'_you're pregnant,' he smiled at her._

'_I am,' she hugged him. 'and you're going to Iraq.'_

'_maybe,' he said. he sat down on the couch. 'how many months?'_

'_two,' she said. 'how many months in Iraq?'_

'_we are not doing this, Claire,' he sighed. 'I am not going.'_

'_yeah, you are Jase,' she said. 'how many months in Iraq?'_

'_If I go, which I'm not, it would only be six months, which is weird,' he said._

'_I am two months; add together two and six, that gives eight, I'd give birth at nine. You'll be there for the birth. Just go to Iraq, Jason. I know you love being there, you love saving the lives of soldiers. You need to do what you love for once, just forget about me and my problems, just go to Iraq.'_

_--_

The next morning, at the Barracks, Scar, Izzie, Matt, Richard, Cam and Juliet were in a conversation about Josie and Flick.

'Felicity's like Josephine,' Cam concluded. 'she's like Eva and Kat.'

'and Angelica,' Izzie said. 'she's like all female Morel's we've tested. And I'm guessing her sisters and Josephine's sister are like them too.'

'most likely,' Matt said. 'it's something in their blood. It's genetic.'

'I don't understand it,' Juliet said.

'Juliet, I've been studying the Morel phenomenon, as we've come to call it, for years, and _I_ don't understand it.'

'the remaining female Morel's we need to test are...' Cam trailed off, checking a list they had made years before. 'Rosanna, who is Katarina's first daughter, Emmeline, who is Angelica's daughter, and Melinda and Lucille, Eva's twins.'

'oh, I saw Emmeline a few months ago,' Izzie said. 'she looks like Josephine and Felicity, only with black hair. She'll be back here soon enough.'

'Izzie, the prophecies that were made,' Matt said. 'there was the one that you made about the oldest daughter of each of the Morel's. I can't remember it exactly though.'

'one's light, one's dark and one's morally grey. That's by themselves, however. If all three of them meet, well....' she trailed off.

'what is it?' Juliet asked. Usually, she did not believe in prophecies and stuff like that, but since this island...

'I don't know,' Izzie said. 'the vision was so intense that my heart stopped and I didn't see the rest.'

The others exchanged a look. If Izzie had almost died just seeing the vision, what did that mean when it would actually happen?

--

Kat escorted Flick back to her cage, Josie by her side. Kat opened the cage and put Flick in.

'is this Josephine, Katarina?' Eva asked.

'it is,' Kat said. 'Josephine, this is my sister, Evangeline.'

'and...?' Josie asked.

'are you going back now?' Kat asked.

'I am, Katarina,' Josie said.

'I guess I'll see you soon then, Josephine,' Kat said.

'I guess you will,' she said. 'by the way, Yoon-Cha gave birth. Her daughter's name is Min-Hee. You should get her. Oh, and Roxy almost died last week. See you,' she took off at a run, towards the beach.

'huh,' Eva said.

'what?' Kat asked.

'she calls you Katarina,' Eva said.

'and...?' Kat asked. Eva just smiled. 'by the way, Felicity has the gene.'

'what gene?' Flick asked.

'a gene you have,' Kat said, walking away.

--

Hurley and Roxy walked up to Laura, Jason, Claire and Jenny.

'so Dudes, we need your names, job and where you live, okay?' Hurley said.

'Special Agent Laura Britt, FBI, Washington D.C.,' Laura said.

'Special Agent Jennifer Poesy, FBI, Washington D.C.,' Jennifer said.

'Jason Littleton, medic, Sydney,' Jason said.

'Claire Littleton, unemployed, Sydney,' Claire said softly.

'Claire, are you okay?' Roxy asked.

Claire nodded and smiled softly.

--

'look, I don't know why, but I'm helping Hurley and Roxy,' Aryel said. 'so I need to know what your name is, job and where you live, okay?'

Max and Michelle looked at her. Michelle reached into her pocket and took out a notebook Max had given her and a pen. She wrote down a few words and ripped out the page, passing it to Aryel.

Aryel read it. 'Michelle Mathews-Mkhize, executive administrative assistant, Washington D.C.,' she said. 'okay....thanks.'

Max blinked, surprised.

'what?' Aryel asked.

'I never knew that was in your vocabulary,' he said. 'Max Prescott, surfer, Boston.'

Aryel scowled at him and walked away.

--

Josie walked over to Ethan.

'so what happened last night?' she asked. 'everyone seems a bit tense.'

'Claire was attacked,' Ethan said. 'what did you tell your so called friends?'

'what?'

'about why you went missing.'

'I said I was spending the night at the caves.'

'and then you decided half way through that you wanted to go back to the beach, so you did,' he said. 'that's your story.'

'okay, that's my story. Claire was attacked?' she asked.

'yes.'

'by who?'

'me.'

--

Jack sat down next to Claire, a bottle of pills in his hand.

'Did you find him?' Claire asked him. Jack shook his head. 'Well, what if he comes back?'

'Claire, this situation we're in – the crash, that no one's coming, this place – it, it can kind of mess with your head a little, and maybe make you see things that aren't actually there. Now, I know it feels very real.'

'I don't underst-'

'Your baby's coming, soon. And I can't even imagine how scary that must be for you, but the more upset you are, the more dangerous it is for you, and your baby. So, I want you to take these,' he said, passing her the bottle.

'What are they?' she asked, turning the bottle over in her hand.

'It's a sedative, very mild – commonly used in situations like yours. It won't harm the baby, I promise,' he said.

Over the other side of the caves, Yoon looked over to see Claire stand up.

'You don't believe me,' she said. 'You think I'm making this up? I get attacked and you want to give me sleeping pills?'

Yoon walked over. 'you're doing what, Jack?' she asked him.

'They're not sleeping pills.... okay, it's a very mild sedative,' Jack said.

'you're drugging her?!' Yoon exclaimed.

'I'm leaving,' Claire said, picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. 'I was safer at the beach. It's not safe here.'

'Don't do this, Claire. You need to think about the baby,' Jack said.

Claire turned to him. 'Don't talk to me about the baby. I'm sick of everyone telling me what to do.'

He grabbed her arm. 'let go of me!' she exclaimed.

'Claire-'

'let go of me!'

'please, Claire-'

'Jack, let her go!' Yoon exclaimed. He let go, and Claire rushed out of the caves. 'God, nothing like acting crazy...' Yoon muttered.

--

Laura and Jenny looked at each other, after watching Jack and Claire argue.

'I'll go after her, you wait for Jason so you can explain it to him and then you can follow, yeah?' Jenny said.

Laura nodded. 'okay, go.'

Laura could not wait for Jason's reaction.

--

Shannon was packing some stuff in her bag.

'You want my information?' she asked. 'Name: Shannon Rutherford, Age: 20, Address: Craphole Island.'

'and where were you last night?' Hurley asked.

'the beach,' Boone said. 'Why the interrogation?'

'You're like the 20th person to ask me that. Why is everyone so uptight about answering a few questions?'

'No, seriously, why the list?'

'Ah, it's nothing, we just had a little incident in the valley last night,' Roxy said.

'An incident?'

'Yeah, Claire, the pregnant girl, you know her-'

'she's not pregnant anymore,' Shannon said.

'no, that's the other pregnant girl, Yoon. Yoon was the one who gave birth,' Roxy said.

'oh.'

'what happened to Claire?' Boone said.

'she, uh, kind of got attacked,' Hurley said.

'What?' Shannon asked. 'I am so not moving to the rape caves.'

She dropped her bag onto the ground and sat down.

'You know, your life would be so much easier if you just had the manifest as we crossed out all the names of the dead after we burned the fuselage, so it should be a full roster of the rest of us,' Boone said.

'What? Really? Who has it?'

Roxy rolled her eyes. 'think for a minute, okay?'

--

Jason punched Jack square in the face.

'you tried to drug my sister?!' he yelled.

'Jason, calm down, I-' Jack began.

'I will kill you!'

'Jason, I did not-'

'Laura just filled me in, Jack! So don't try to make up some bullshit like you thought it was going to help, because you think that Claire was making up her being attacked! She's not lying, and it was not a dream! Claire says it happened, it happened, okay?'

'Jason, she could just-'

'and I could just smash your head in,' Jason hissed.

'okay!' Laura exclaimed. 'I think we've had enough threats for now, let's go, Jason,' she said, grabbing his arm and leading him out of the caves.

'where are we going?' Jason asked.

'Claire,' Laura said.

--

Lucy turned to Oz, her eyes wide.

'why's everyone yelling at Doctor Jack?' she asked him.

--

'I'm just going to lay it out straight,' Hurley said. he was standing in the entrance of Sawyer's tent, looking at Sawyer. 'I hear you have the flight manifest, and I need it, and I want you to give it to me.'

'That so?' Sawyer asked.

'Now, you could do what you normally do when someone asks for something – tell me to screw off. Or, Roxy, who is standing right outside this tent, can go get Aryel and it can be settled her way. Or, you could just give it to me – because, dude, you could use the points.'

'Well, gosh, you sure know how to butter a man up, Stay Puft,' Sawyer said.

'It's a gift.'

'Manifest is in the brown suitcase. Take it.'

--

'this is madness, Claire,' Jenny said, following through the jungle.

'no, you know what's madness?' Jason asked, walking into the clearing with Laura right behind him. 'bloody Jack!' he exclaimed.

'"bloody" is right,' Laura smirked.

'Jason...' Claire said. 'why is your hand covered in blood?'

'the question is, why is Jack's face covered in blood?' Laura said.

'Jason!' Claire exclaimed. She suddenly grabbed her stomach in pain.

'Claire?'

--

'_you mean to tell me that this guy has been close to stalking you for months now?' Jason asked Claire, as they walked down the street to the psychics' house._

'_yes, just calm down,' she said, smiling. Jason's third tour had ended the day beforehand, and he already sounded like he wanted to kill the guy who had been messing with his sister. She had kind of missed that. 'you're way too protective, Jase, you know that, right?'_

'_yeah, but if I wasn't like I am, would you keep me around?'_

'_probably not,' she said playfully. He put his arm around her shoulder. 'I'm glad you're back, Jason.'_

'_so am I, Claire,' he said as they walked up the path to the psychics house. 'you sure you want to listen to this freak?' Jason said to him._

'_I'm sure,' she smiled._

'_then let's see him.'_

_--_

'oh, God,' Claire said, grabbing her stomach.

'Is that another one?' Jason asked.

'yeah,' she said.

'seeing you surfing is amazing,' a voice said, and a few seconds later, Erica, Max and Charlie walked into the clearing.

'what's going on?' Max asked, concerned.

'Claire's having contractions,' Jenny said.

'Okay, we need to time the contractions. That's what you do, time the contractions, okay. One sugar-plum fairy, two sugar-plum fairy...'

'Charlie,' Claire said.

'You just need to calm down, alright. Big deep breaths,' Charlie said, taking deep breaths in demonstration.

'Charlie! This is serious!' Jason exclaimed. He turned to Laura. 'go find Jack, Yoon, Petro, anyone with the least bit knowledge of medicine,' he told her.

'what about you? You're a doctor,' she said softly.

'I've only delivered a baby once. That was two days ago,' he told her. 'go.'

She nodded and stood up, running off to the caves.

'Claire,' Jason said. 'breathe.'

'it hurts,' she said.

'Okay, just take my hand,' he said to her. She grabbed his hand. 'Squeeze. Okay, breathe. Inhale, exhale. Good, just breathe. Inhale, okay, good.'

'I'm not supposed to be here,' she said.

'I think we all feel like that a little bit,' Charlie said.

'I know, it's just – someone promised me it would be different,' she told them.

'Well, he was wrong.'

'Yeah. He was wrong.'

'because he's a freaking maniac, Claire,' Jason said in exasperation.

'who is?' Erica said.

Claire sighed and started telling them the story.

--

'Laura?' a voice asked as she ran.

Laura stopped and turned. 'Ethan, right?' she said.

'right. What's wrong?' he asked.

'Claire,' she said. 'she's having contractions. We think she's having her baby.'

'is there anything I can do?' he asked, concerned.

'yeah,' she said. 'you can get out of my way.'

She began running again.

--

'A psychic?' Max asked.

'I know. It's embarrassing. And now after everything, he was just full of it,' Claire said.

'and why, you ask?' Jason said. 'because he's a bullshit artist.'

'maybe he's not,' Charlie said. 'I mean, all he wanted was that no one else raise your baby, right? Maybe he knew. I mean, if he wanted it bad enough. You know, if he had the gift, and I believe some people do, maybe he knew, Claire.'

Claire thought back in realization.

'There was no couple in Los Angeles. He knew. He knew about the plane, what was going to happen. Oh my god, he knew,' she said.

'God, I will kill that guy,' Jason sighed.

--

Luka watched as Josie looked around her suspiciously, before walking into the jungle. She had been disappearing a lot lately. And he needed to know why. It's not that he didn't trust her, he did, he just found it strange.

So he followed her.

--

'Kat?' Josie asked softly, walking into the jungle a bit further.

'Josephine, have you found out anything more about the baby?' Kat asked her, walking out from behind a tree.

'I've found out a lot of interesting stuff over the past week,' she said. 'for instance, I overheard Sammy say to himself that he is the reason that Yoon-Cha is a widow. Anyway, Min-Hee... you need to take her soon, but make sure that Yoon isn't conscious for it, because she is protective, and she will kill you, mom.'

Behind a tree, Luka gasped. This was Josie's mother? Josie's real name was Josephine? What the Hell was going on?

'okay,' Kat nodded. She said something softly to Josie, and Luka leaned closer to hear it.

He got off balance and fell, landing in front of the mother and daughter.

Josie and Kat looked at each other and then at him.

--

'have they stopped?' Charlie asked.

'I think so,' Claire said.

Jason sighed. 'good.'

'where the Hell is Jack or Yoon or Petro?' Jenny asked.

Claire stood up. 'You know, I think, I think I'm alright.'

'the contractions?' Erica asked.

'maybe it was the last one?' she said hopefully. 'Please let that be the last one.'

'it probably was,' Jason assured her. 'stress causes false labour sometimes Claire.'

'you sure you're alright?' Max asked.

'no pain,' she said.

--

Sayid limped into the caves.

'Sayid?' Jack asked.

'Listen to me. I found her, the French woman,' Sayid told them. 'she told me....she told me we're not alone.'

--

'I'm not understanding this,' Luka said, standing up from where he had fallen.

'you followed me,' Josie said.

'you guys are planning on taking Yoon's baby?' Luka asked.

'who is this guy?' Kat asked.

'who do you think?' she asked in exasperation.

'ahh, of course. Luka.'

'who are you people? Luka asked. 'why are you trying to take Yoon's baby? Who the Hell are you people?'

'us?' Kat raised an eyebrow. 'we're the good guys.'

'you're going to take Yoon's baby. How does that make you good?'

'because it does,' Josie said, crossing her arms over her chest. Kat looked sideways at Josie and hid a smile. Good. Josie was getting defensive; she was getting angrier, she was getting closer to snapping out at Luka. She was getting closer to hating him. And that's what Kat needed from her. Her hating them.

'I can't let you do that,' he said.

'oh yeah? And I suppose you're going to stop us?'

'yeah,' he said.

'you're mistaken,' she said, clenching her fist and punching him.

'normally I'm opposed to hitting girls, Josie, but...' he punched her. Josie knocked him to the ground and she started punching him in quick succession. He grabbed her arms and made her stop punching him.

Kat rolled her eyes and leant against a tree, watching them.

'get off me,' Josie said.

'I hate to point this out, but you're the one on me,' he said. the two looked at each other and he leant up and kissed her. She fiercely kissed him back and he rolled them over so he was on top and broke away.

'I do not know you,' Luka hissed. 'I thought I had a chance to get to know you, but I guess not.'

'now, you can get the Hell off of me,' she hissed.

'now, you can-'

'now, you can both shut the Hell up!' Kat exclaimed. 'Josephine, your cover is blown, let's go.'

'she's not going anywhere,' Luka said.

'yeah, she is,' Kat said.

Luka looked over his shoulder at Kat. 'no, I don't thi-'

He was cut off when Kat kicked his face in, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Josie pushed him off her and got up.

'how do you stand him?' Kat asked. 'let's go.'

'we're leaving him here? He's on the list!' Josie asked.

'he tried to kill you, Josie,' Kat said. 'so, yeah, I'd say he forfeits his right of being on the list.'

--

'what do you mean we're not alone?' Jack asked Sayid.

'Jack! Petro! Yoon! Anyone with the least bit of medical knowledge!'

The shout came from Laura, as she entered the caves.

'Jack!' this yell came from Hurley as he ran in.

'sorry, Hurley, this is important,' Laura said.

'Dude, so is this,' he told her.

'Jack, Yoon, Petro-'

'Jack, the manifest, the census-'

'-we have a problem-'

'-the names of everyone who survived, all of us-'

'-it's Claire-'

'-I talked to everyone. Here, the beach, everywhere-'

'-she's going into labour-'

'-I got their names. One of them-'

'-we need help, come on-'

'-one of them – Jack!' he yelled getting Jack's attention. Jack turned to him finally. 'one of them isn't in the manifest! He wasn't on the plane!'

--

Jenny, Claire, Charlie, Erica, Max and Jason were walking back to the caves.

'Hello there,' a voice said. they turned to see Ethan standing there.

'Ethan, what are you doing here?' Jenny asked.

**--**

**Next chapter should be up soon.**


	14. It Ain't Over, 'Til it's Over

**Here's the next chapter. This chapter doesn't have any flashbacks because....it just doesn't. Enjoy. **

Kat and Josie walked into the Barracks, heading straight for Ben's house. The two of them walked in.

'Ben, I need to get a team together,' she called out as she walked in.

He met her in the hallway. 'why do you need a team?' he then saw Josie. 'and why is Josephine here?'

'she got compromised,' Kat sighed. 'and I need a team to take Yoon-Cha's baby.'

'Cam, Ethan, Tom, Krist, Josh and Carlos will be back soon. Take one of them.'

'back from where? And why's Ethan with them?'

'they have the pregnant girl.'

'Claire?' Josie asked.

'yes, Claire,' Ben said. 'and I they've got some other people from the crash site. They should be back soon.'

'okay,' Kat said. 'I'll take one of them. Thanks,' she said, walking out.

Josie followed her.

'I'll be part of the team,' Josie said.

'Josephine, go see Esther or Juliet for those cuts,' Kat said to her, gesturing to her face, where Luka had hit her.

'fine,' she said, starting to walk off.

'Josie,' Kat said. 'I'm glad you're safe.'

'are you?' she asked, walking away.

Kat sighed. She wished she had never said those words to her daughter.

--

'he wasn't on the plane,' Hurley kept repeating.

'who wasn't on the plane?' Laura yelled, angry that he wasn't saying who it was.

'Ethan, the Canadian guy, he is not on the passenger manifest.'

'oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!' Laura exclaimed.

'what? Where is he? Laura, what's wrong?' Jack asked.

'on the way here, I saw him, and told him what was going on with Claire,' she said.

'is anyone with her?' Jack asked.

'yeah,' Laura said. 'Jason, Jenny, Charlie, Erica and Max.'

'where are they?'

'trying to stop Claire's contractions, maybe?' she said. 'somewhere in the jungle.'

--

Jack, Locke, Laura, Oz and Maya ran through the jungle.

Laura stopped. 'here. This is where I left them,' she told them.

'what's that?' Maya asked, pointing to something as she walked over.

It was Claire's bag.

'She was moving back to the beach. Claire. That's hers,' Jack said.

'and why was she moving back to the beach, Jack?' Laura asked angrily.

'there's some footprints here,' Locke said. 'At least ten distinct sets all over the place. It looks like there might have been a struggle. And there's drag marks.'

'they've been taken,' Oz said.

They all looked at each other.

--

Over the other side of the island, Akilina had an angry look on her face, angry that she had been betrayed by Induala.

An hour beforehand, they took Induala out, as if it was part of a plan.

Induala had acted like her friend, but really, she was on their side.

Induala didn't believe her.

--

Yoon walked into the infirmary, Min-Hee in her arms.

'hey,' James said to her.

'hey,' she smiled brightly.

'you know, I can't go outside because my burns will freak out some people, but I did hear through the grapevine that you gave birth,' he said. 'so congratulations, Doctor Paik. Or Harper. I've heard you referred to by both. So what is it?'

'Gal,' she said.

'that's a new one,' he said.

She smiled. 'it depends on who you ask. Legally, I'm Harper by marriage – not that I'm married anymore – Paik is my adopted family's name, and Gal is my birth name. So it depends on who you ask. My husband, ex-husband, said it was Harper, and I did too for a time. My mother, father and sister say Paik. I say Gal.'

'I like Gal,' he said.

'so do I,' she said.

'so let me get this straight,' he said. 'you're Yoon-Cha Gal?'

'yes.'

'and your sister is Sun-Hwa Paik?'

'yes, although technically-'

'and her husband is Jin-Soo Kwon?'

'yes.'

'and your daughter is Min-Hee Harper?'

'yes. What is your point?'

'you're related to three people on this island, and you've all got different last names. I find it weird.'

'...and I still missed your point,' she asked.

'I know your name, all three of them, your sisters name, her husbands, and your daughters. Yet I don't even know my own.'

'James. Your name is James,' she said.

'just James. No last name. Just James, James the burnt amnesia guy.'

'no, James the burnt amnesia guy who survived a plane crash and second and third degree burns to over half of his body. You are James, a survivor.'

'and you are Yoon-Cha, the Korean chick with three names who survived a plane crash and gave birth on an island. You are Yoon-Cha, a pain in my ass,' he smiled.

Yoon laughed.

'you are Yoon-Cha,' he said softly. 'the only person who hasn't given up on me.'

Yoon smiled at him. 'we have the manifest,' she said in realization. 'we can figure out your name.'

'I...I don't think I was on that plane legally,' he said, trailing off as he thought hard. 'don't tell anyone.'

'I won't,' she said. 'James...you just remembered something,' she smiled.

'I did?'

'you did. Give it time and the rest of your memory will be back.'

'what if it doesn't? What if I've lost it forever?' he asked.

'some things aren't made to be lost,' she said.

--

The group walked through the jungle, trying to find any sign of their missing friends.

'you know, this is all your fault, Jack!' Laura exclaimed.

'how is it his fault?' Maya asked.

'he was trying to make Claire take sleeping pills,' Oz said calmly.

'what?' Maya asked.

'it doesn't make sense,' Jack said to Locke. 'how can six people just be taken?'

'You're asking the wrong question. Not how, why,' Locke said.

'does anyone else get the feeling we're being ignored?' Laura asked.

'You think it was Ethan,' Jack said to Locke.

'yeah, I am,' Maya said.

'It certainly feels like it was Ethan, doesn't it?' Locke said.

'funny, so am I,' Oz said.

'By himself. How?' Jack said.

'there were more than just his tracks and the ones taken,' Oz said.

Laura ignored the conversation and looked at something in the foliage curiously.

'Sayid said there are others,' Locke said.

Laura walked closer to the undergrowth. Was it just her imagination, or was that a hand?

'Sayid said we're not alone,' Jack corrected.

'semantics,' Locke replied.

Laura moved the undergrowth and gasped. 'Guys!' she called out.

They turned to her. 'Max,' she said in explanation.

And sure enough, Max was on the ground, a wound to his forehead where he had been knocked out, presumably.

--

'sick and twisted,' Carlos said softly as he held onto Erica tightly, so she wouldn't get away.

'what's that, Sanz?' Cam demanded.

'I just thought of something. Are we getting them hurt and leaving them to slow down the people following us?' Carlos asked loudly. An hour beforehand they had knocked out Max, and left him.

'we are,' Cam said. 'do you disapprove?' she asked.

'why are you doing this?' Claire asked tearfully.

'shut her up,' Cam said.

'do that, and-' Jason began before Ethan hit him, to make him shut up.

--

Michelle was sitting in the caves, filling up drink bottles. She was worried. As far as she could tell, as far as she knew, Claire and a few other people had been taken. And Max was a part of them. Max. The only person on this island who accepted her grief, who let her grieve for her lost one. Everyone else thought that she should get over it. They thought that she should because others had lost people in the crash, and they were healing, they were talking. But they hadn't argued with their wives before they had gotten on that plane.

Michelle had.

She looked up as she heard a commotion from the entrance of the caves.

People were gathering around Oz and Laura, who had an unconscious Max between them.

Michelle gasped as they put him on the ground.

'where's Yoon and Petro?' Oz asked.

'beach,' Boone said. 'what happened to him?'

'Ethan happened,' Laura said. 'we're not sure if anyone else will be left, but even if they're not we need more people helping. Anyone want to help?'

Boone, Sammy, Kate, Aryel, Sayid and surprisingly Sawyer, walked forward.

'and someone look after Max, okay?' Laura added.

Michelle nodded and sat down next to him. She poured some water from a bottle onto a piece of cloth and cleaned his face of blood.

The other group headed out of the caves, Laura looking over her shoulder at Michelle and Max.

Max was really lucky to have a friend like Michelle.

_--_

Hayden smiled as she walked into her house. Someone was playing the piano. She knew for a fact that Gus couldn't play the piano, but no one else came into her house. Well, no one in the last few weeks. But only one other person she knew would enter her house and play her piano.

She rolled her eyes and walked into the other room. She walked over and sat down next to the man.

'trespassing,' she said, turning her head so he could see her mouth.

'door was unlocked,' Matt said. 'besides, it's widely known that you have the best piano in the Barracks. And this new song is interesting,' he added, placing his hands on the keyboard, and playing the fast song that was sitting in front of the piano. Hayden smiled and started playing along with him.

'why did you need to talk to Izzie the other day?' he asked her as their hands flew across the piano.

'because I've been seeing stuff,' she turned to him, her fingers instinctively playing the song.

Matt stopped playing and turned to her in surprise.

'in my dreams. They disturb me so much,' she said. 'but let's not talk about this.'

'why not?' he asked.

'because I remember how we would sit here and play for hours on end, just me and the sounds, just you and the colours. Do you know how much of a miracle that the two of us, with only eight senses between us, can play the piano in harmony with each other? You don't hear it, I don't see it, but we're in perfect time with each other. You are my eyes, I am your ears. We used to be a team, Matt. What happened?'

'a plane crashed, Hayden,' Matt said. 'a plane crashed and there's so much we need to do now. We have no time anymore.'

'no, _you_ have no time because you're a hotshot doctor and I'm just the med school dropout who formed a band, got drunk almost every night, was high every other night and tried to kill herself every weekend because she hated what she had become.'

'Hayden,' Matt said. 'let's just play.'

She smiled and nodded. 'okay,' she said. she flipped a page in the book and ran her fingers along the Braille at the top of the page. 'this is a new song,' she said. 'I started it, but I haven't finished it. I want your help, just start playing this song with me, and don't think about the meaning of it. Just...play from the heart.'

She leaned over and hit record on a tape recorder.

'okay,' he said, starting to play along with her.

--

Eli walked through the jungle, on his way to the caves. He was worried about Erica. She was gone. And he hadn't seen Luka or Josie in a few hours. Usually they were sitting up one end of the beach, arguing with each other. But they weren't.

Eli kept walking. He stopped suddenly when he saw someone face down on the ground.

He knelt down and turned the person over.

It was Luka.

_--_

Luka groaned and opened his eyes. What a bitch. She had never been on their side, never cared for any of them.

He looked around him. He was in the caves.

'hey,' Roxy smiled.

'hey,' he said. 'look, someone wasn't on that plane.'

'we know,' she said. 'did he knock you out?'

'he? No. She did.'

'she?' Eli asked.

'Josie,' he said grimly. 'who are you guys talking about?'

'Ethan,' Eli said. 'Josie is one of them?' he asked.

'yeah,' Luka said. 'I saw her meet up with her mother. Josie and I started fighting, and her mother kicked my face in, knocking me out.'

'Josie?' Roxy asked sceptically. 'little blonde Josie who looks like me?'

'how many other Josie's do you know?' Luka asked.

'and she hit you?'

'yeah.'

'I'm sorry, I'm usually a pacifist, but what a bitch,' Roxy said.

'bitch sounds foreign in your mouth,' Luka laughed.

--

Oz, Jack, Maya, Laura and Kate walked through the jungle one way, as the other people searching went the other way. They were going north, while the other group went south.

Oz looked sideways at Laura, who had her face in an impenetrable façade. She was trying to hide all emotion, trying to act like she saw this every day. Which, Oz realized, she could actually pretend she did. She could pretend that in the FBI she saw pregnant women being kidnapped by wild natives of a mystery island.

But really, she was worried for her friends. Especially Jenny, Claire and Jason.

'they'll be okay, Laura,' he said to her.

'oh my God,' Kate said, stopping. She could not believe it. Maya and Jack ran forward as she watched transfixed, Laura and Oz in the same state beside her.

Charlie was hanging from a tree, the vines holding him up tight around his neck.

Jack ran over and grabbed Charlie's legs, holding him so he wasn't hanging by the vines, so he wasn't hanging by his neck. So he wouldn't suffocate, if he hadn't already.

'You've got to cut him down,' Jack said to Maya. Maya nodded and climbed up the tree. She went to take a knife from her belt, but it slipped from her hand.

Jack sighed as it fell to the ground, but was surprised when she reached to her ankle and took a knife from there. 'move him closer,' she said.

Jack tried, but it didn't work. 'he won't go any closer than this,' he told Maya.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She only had one shot at this.

'Maya, focus!' Jack exclaimed. 'what are you doing?'

She opened her eyes and held onto the knife tightly with one hand.

'Maya!' Jack exclaimed. She pushed herself off the tree and jumped over to the vines holding Charlie up. She held on tightly with one hand and swiftly cut the vine with her other hand underneath it until Charlie fell to the ground.

Jack started giving Charlie CPR as Maya jumped down from the tree, landing in a crouch in front of Laura and Oz.

'you know there's this thing called showing off, right?' Laura smirked.

'jealousy is a horrible sickness, Laura,' Maya smirked back. 'get well soon.'

Oz was standing in between them, trying to hide his amusement. 'it was pretty cool, Maya,' he said.

The three stopped talking and looked back to where Jack was trying to revive Charlie.

'C'mon, breathe, Charlie. C'mon, breathe. C'mon. C'mon,' Jack muttered through the CPR.

Kate shook, trying to contain a sob. He was dead.

Laura placed a hand over her mouth, shocked beyond words.

'Jack, Jack stop, he's not... Jack, stop, he's not...' Kate choked back a sob.

'oh God,' Maya said in horror.

Jack stopped the CPR and Kate started crying. Jack looked at Charlie. He looked peaceful.

Jack shook his head and hit Charlie's chest really hard.

'Jack,' Kate said urgently. 'stop. Stop.'

'come on,' Jack pleaded, as he continued with CPR.

'Jack!' Maya exclaimed. 'let him go!'

'Jack!' Laura exclaimed when he ignored Maya.

Oz opened his mouth but the sounds of Charlie gasping for air made him close it in surprise.

'Just breathe, breathe. Breathe deep, breathe deep. You're okay,' Jack said to Charlie.

Oz smiled and put his arm around each of the women next to him. Laura and Maya smiled and gave him a half-hug back.

Jack and Kate looked at each other in joy.

He was okay.

_--_

Charlie and Kate had returned to the caves, but Jack, Oz, Maya and Laura continued.

'if....' Laura trialled off.

'if what?' Oz asked.

'if Charlie almost died....' she trialled off again. 'what are the odds of the others being alive anymore?' she asked softly.

'come on, Britt!' Maya exclaimed, trying to be enthusiastic. 'you're a FBI agent, and you have this little faith?'

Oz gave her a weird look. 'who are you, and what have you done to the real Maya?'

She hit him lightly on the arm. 'Laura, face it. Jenny's a federal agent, and Jason had been in a warzone,' Maya said. 'they can handle themselves.'

'what about Claire? And Erica?' she asked.

'we want them,' a voice said, a familiar voice.

The four of them looked to their right to see Josie standing there, Kat, Bracken, Renata and Bea behind her.

'Josefina, what are you doing with them?' Jack asked.

'oh, you haven't been given the 411 yet, Jack?' Bracken asked. 'our girl Josephine is as bad as Ethan,' she smiled evilly.

'what?' they all asked, their jaws dropping.

'close your mouths before someone trips over them,' Josie said coldly. She didn't mean to be a bitch, she didn't want to, not to them, but she had to. 'now, you're all going to turn around and go back to camp.'

'think again, princess,' Maya snarled.

'if you keep following,' Kat said. 'we will kill one of them.'

'And it will be drawn out,' Bea added.

'for no other reason than the pain would be excruciating,' Bracken said.

Laura thought about them killing Jenny or Jason or Claire or Erica. She thought of Jenny, still and pale. Jason, who, if dead, would be a bloody mess, not going down without a fight. Claire, her blonde hair clinging to her face in a mixture of blood and sweat. And Erica. Erica, her curious green eyes glazed over, her face untainted, still remaining innocent in death.

She thought about them killing her friends, and she lunged for Josie.

She tackled her to the ground, but Josie had seen it coming, and it didn't seem to worry her that she was now pinned under a woman who wanted to rip her limb from limb.

Laura went to hit her but stopped, her eyes widening when she felt the muzzle of a gun on the back of her neck.

'yeah, that's right,' Kat breathed in Laura's ear. 'touch her again, I will make sure you will not live to see your friends again.'

Kat roughly pulled Laura off Josie and pushed her back over to the others.

'no more warnings,' Kat said to them.

They heard some whispers and looked around.

When they looked back, the Others were gone.

--

'it seems like there's always drama here,' James said. 'it seems like someone is always doing something they shouldn't be: Boone stole the water, Jin attacked Michael, Sawyer gets tortured.... Why can't there be a week where everyone is calm, and we all just relax?'

'because then we would get bored, and start something with each other, just because we need some entertainment,' Yoon said, changing his bandages. 'so,' she began. 'I have the manifest here, if you want to see if any name triggers a memory,' she said, passing the manifest to him.

'didn't we go over this, Yoon?' he sighed.

'just humour me, okay?' she said.

He sighed and read through it. For her. No names were familiar to him. 'satisfied?'

'very,' she said.

'your name isn't in it,' he said in realization.

'I didn't travel under my real name,' she said.

'there's not even Harper here. Or Paik. Strange,' he continued.

'I travelled under Hyun Jae Sung,' she said irritably.

'why?'

'look, we all have secrets,' she said.

_--_

'this is insane,' Laura said, as they all followed Jack.

Jack continued walking, as though he hadn't heard her.

'did you hear what I said?' she asked loudly. 'they could die if we keep following! Claire, Jenny, Jason, Erica. They could all die if we don't stop!'

'you don't have to follow me,' he muttered.

'oh no, we will follow you because you will get yourself killed out here if we don't,' she said. 'but Jack,' she began. Jack didn't look at her. She walked over to him and stood right in front of him.

'what?' he sighed.

'if they die...if any of them die...it is on you,' she said. 'got it?'

--

'get her out of there!' Induala yelled. 'she is not one of them!'

Usually Induala strived in being calm and not making herself the centre of attention. But this, this was different. They were going too far. They were starving the poor girl.

Ana Lucia ignored her and turned back to the young girl in the pit.

'where are the kids Akilina? Where are they?' she asked.

'you ask this of me like I would know,' she said coolly.

'why were you travelling?' Ana asked.

'because my father decided to take my brother and I to America. I do not know his reasoning, only that he thought it would be a good experience for us. I guess he was wrong,' she added softly.

'why were you in Australia then?'

'same reason. The experience,' she rolled her eyes, thinking of how Luka had opposed that idea straight away, thinking there was some alternative reason. Maybe there was.

Ana saw something in the corner. It looked like....

'what is that?' she demanded, pointing. Akilina looked at it, her eyes widening. 'is that a banana? Who gave it to you?'

'yes, that is a banana. And God gave it to me,' she said sarcastically.

Ana jumped down into the pit, and went to hit her.

'enough!' Layla exclaimed loudly. She jumped into the pit after Ana. 'Ana, you do not hit children. And isn't it enough that Melinda saw her on the plane?'

'Melinda is a child, she doesn't know what she saw,' Ana argued.

'I don't really care what you think; we are letting Akilina out, okay?' Layla asked. She walked closer to Akilina. 'come on, sweetheart,' she said, about to touch her arm.

Akilina shrank back from her, her eyes flashing back to when she was hit with a fist.

'see, she doesn't-' Ana began, but Induala had been lowered into the pit by Lucian.

'be quiet, Ana Lucia,' Induala said. She walked over to Akilina and extended her hand. 'I'm sorry,' she said softly to her.

Akilina took her hand, remembering that this woman had been abused too, and this was the woman who seemed more on her side than anyone else.

'who gave you the banana?' Ana asked, not getting over it.

'Melinda did,' Akilina said softly. 'but leave her out of this.'

Induala led her over to the edge of the pit and Lucian helped to gently pull her up.

'you're okay,' he whispered to her. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He wasn't going to hurt her. She knew that. But still, any man scared her. Even though she had taken a life of a man, she was scared by all others. Maybe because of what her father did to her. Or maybe because of what her stepfather had done to her.

Induala was also pulled up by Lucian, and she saw Akilina trying to get away from Lucian, without making it obvious.

'Akilina-' she began.

'Lina,' she interrupted. 'my friends called me Lina.'

'Lina,' she repeated. 'Lucian and I, we're not going to hurt you,' she said softly.

'I know. And the others?' Akilina asked.

Induala and Lucian led her away from the pit and to the makeshift camp, and to the other side of the river, away from the rest of them.

Lucian took a piece of cloth that had been ripped off someone's clothes and put it in the river, wetting it. He gently began cleaning her face of blood and dirt with it.

'Constance,' Induala said softly, holding Akilina's hand. 'I don't think she approves of this, I think she's on Ana's side. Layla....Layla doesn't think it's right for you to be imprisoned, but she's not sure if we can trust you.'

'I think we can,' Lucian told her.

'Ashley's a piece of work,' Induala said.

'but if she gives you trouble, talk to us, okay?' Lucian said.

'Nicanor, he wasn't sure about you, because you hid so much, so he's still a bit wary of you. He wonders why you pretended you didn't speak English,' Induala said.

'Erin and Damien.....no trust there. But they don't trust any of us. Well. Erin doesn't, so Damien follows her lead. Only Melinda can get through to them,' Lucian told her.

'Jonas, he worries for himself, he doesn't care for others,' Induala said.

'Serena trusts her instincts. Her instincts told her you were lying when you first met,' Lucian said. 'so she doesn't trust you anymore.'

'Leonard is a tough one,' Induala said. 'sometimes he seems nice, but most times he's cold. So he doesn't get involved.'

'Libby,' Lucian and Induala said at the same time.

'she is a trusting person,' Lucian said.

'she trusts us all,' Induala added.

'Bernard thinks you're just a kid, which you are, so he trusts you. Children are innocent,' Lucian said. 'children yes, some teenagers I've met though....' he trailed off, smiling.

'and Melinda,' Induala said. 'she trusts Lucian and I, so she trusts you by default.'

'so some of them, Akilina,' Lucian said. 'some of them do.'

'Lucian,' Akilina said. 'please, call me Lina.'

'fine. Then you call me LJ,' he said.

'fine,' she said.

The two turned and looked at Induala, both of them raising an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes. 'call me Indy,' she said.

--

Laura stopped in her tracks and gasped.

Maya and Oz bumped into her and their eyes widened. Jack looked shocked too.

And then the four of them ran towards the bloody bodies of Jason and Jenny.

Maya and Oz exchanged a look.

Were they dead?

_--_

Josie deliberately walked across the Barracks, trying to bypass her so called "friends", who she knew would be mentioning something about her blown mission. Scar especially.

She walked past the cages, and heard Scar.

'ooh, Josephine Morel,' Scar called out from where she was sitting with Alex, Karl, Rachel, Elliot and Peter. She was back from her mission. 'back from the survivors. How is it with people who don't know any better?'

'Scar,' Alex said.

'I heard you knocked your lover boy flat on his back. Was it a right hook?'

'the one to your face in a second will be,' Josie snarled, moving closer and clenching her fists.

'Josephine!' Kat exclaimed, walking over and grabbing her arm.

'I will knock her out,' Josie said.

'oh, I know, and we will all find it funny, we will all be amused, we will all think she deserves it, because let's face it: Scarlett Lynch is a little bitch who loves pissing us all off. But she grew up on the streets and is not above kicking your ass.'

'I grew up in the jungle, Katarina,' Josie said.

'not the point, Josie,' Kat said. 'yes, by growing up in the jungle you know how to fight dirty, but by growing up in the streets she can kill you easily,' Kat turned to Scar. 'how many people have you killed, Scarlett? Five? Ten? twenty?'

'twenty-three,' Scar said. 'how many people have you killed, Josephine?' she asked in a patronizing voice.

'one,' Josie said.

'who would win in fight to the death, do you reckon?'

'you would,' Kat said. 'but you wouldn't be alive long enough to celebrate that fact.'

'because you would kill me,' Scar said. 'and that would make me what number?'

'well, I stopped counting after one hundred and eight, but that was fifteen years ago, so I don't know,' Kat said.

The people in the cages watched the conversation, intrigued. It seemed like a lot of the Others had issues with each other.

'wasn't that my mother?' Izzie asked, walking over.

'you know what, Isobel?' Kat snapped. 'bite me. Get over it already. It was a mercy kill.'

'I remember that,' Eva said. 'it was right before I left.'

'yeah, whatever,' Izzie said. 'Josephine, Felicity, can I have your hands?'

'why?' Eva and Kat asked.

'mom,' Flick and Josie said in unison, rolling their eyes.

'I want to see if their futures are set in stone, calm down,' Izzie said. Josie followed her over to the cages and Izzie took her hand and Flick's. Everyone watched intrigued as Izzie's eyes closed and opened in quick succession, repeated a few times. Her eyes snapped open and rolled back so all you could see were the whites of her eyes.

She started muttering in Mandarin.

--

Laura ran over and knelt by Jenny, who was covered in blood. Her eyes were fluttering. She was alive. Barely.

Laura ran her hands over her friends body, trying to find the source of all the blood.

'is she okay?' Oz called over from Jason.

'she's covered in blood, Oz,' Laura said. 'what do you think? What about him?'

'stab wound in his chest,' Oz said.

She nodded as she found the source of the blood. Jenny's throat had been slit.

'Jack!' Laura yelled. 'her throat had been slit but she's still alive!'

Jack ran over and put pressure on her neck. Laura looked at something and saw that Jenny also had a cut near her heart.

'there's another one here,' she said.

'stick your hand in there to stop the bleeding,' Jack said.

'you want me to stick my hand on her heart?!'

'do you want her to live?' Jack asked. Laura put her hand in the cut and could feel her heart beating slowly next to her hand.

'Maya!' Jack said. 'go find the other doctors.'

'Laura....' Jenny gasped softly.

'we can't move them?' Maya asked Jack.

'don't try to talk, Jen,' Laura whispered.

'We could move Jason, but Jenny's too injured,' Jack explained to Maya.

'you're....my....best....friend,' Jenny whispered to Laura.

'and you're mine too,' Laura said.

'be as quick as possible,' Jack said to Maya.

'love....you,' Jenny gasped.

'I love you too,' Laura said softly. She gasped when she didn't feel the thump of Jenny's heart. It had stopped.

'I will,' Maya said to Jack.

'Jack,' Laura whispered, shocked that her friend was gone. 'go take Jason back.'

'no, I need to stay here with Jenny,' he said.

'no you don't,' she said. 'Jenny's dead,' she whispered.

She pulled her hand out of Jenny's chest as Jack took his hand off her neck.

'I'm sorry,' Jack said to Laura. He put a hand on her shoulder before walking over and picking Jason up with Oz. Laura picked up her best friend and followed them.

--

Hayden and Matt laughed as they walked across the Barracks, listening to the recording of their song – well, Hayden listened and Matt watched the colours.

'damn, we're awesome,' Matt said.

'all we have to do is add lyrics to it,' Hayden said.

'why? Why do we have to add lyrics? I get that your thing is writing songs, but I like it without words. It has a kind of edge to it, you know?'

'you wouldn't notice if it had words,' she pointed out.

'still....it's....' he trailed off, at a loss for words.

'actually, I agree,' she said. Matt stopped walking and stopped the recording. 'what's going on?'

He grabbed her arm and pulled her over to the cages after him.

'what's going on? Matt!' Hayden exclaimed.

'Izzie's doing her psychometric stuff on Josie and Felicity, and the last time she did that...she almost died,' Matt said. he walked closer to Izzie.

'Izzie,' Matt said.

She didn't speak to him, just in Mandarin, to herself. He studied her face and read her lips, processing the words.

This wasn't good, he realized. This was not good at all.

Izzie let go of their hands, her eyes widening.

'Izzie?' Matt asked tentatively.

She stepped back and turned to her brother. She opened her mouth, shocked by what she had learnt.

'Isobel?' he asked again.

She took a slow step towards him.

And promptly collapsed in his arms.

--

**Sigh. So Jenny's dead. And Claire and Erica are still out there. Will there be another death?**

**Also, Jenny's story, from before the island, will be seen in Laura flashbacks a bit, just so she's not completely cheated of the whole main character flashbacks. I really do like her, just she was the most in the poll. **

**BTW, I love reviews :)**


	15. Never Seen You Fall so Hard

**Hey. This chapter is a Sammy centric. Enjoy.**

'La Mer,' Flick sang softly. 'Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs. A des reflets d'argent. La mer.'

A tear slipped down her cheek.

'are you singing?'

Flick quickly wiped the tear away and turned to see Dom sitting against the side of the cage, watching her with curiosity in his eyes.

'no,' she said hastily.

'you were, weren't you?' he grinned.

'piss off,' she snapped before turning back around. She sighed. She really wanted off this island.

'Felicity,' Eva said from across her, in the other cage. 'Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.'

--

Yoon watched from afar as Kate and Sawyer argued, a Halliburton case in each of Sawyer's hands. She recognized the dint in one of them. It was hers.

It looked like Kate wanted the other one, and Sawyer wouldn't give it to her.

Yoon sighed.

What were the odds of him giving hers back?

--

Max laughed as he helped Michelle get her luggage. The tide was pulling the luggage out to sea, everyone's luggage.

The two finally succeeded in pulling it to the edge of the jungle and they collapsed onto the ground, a rare smile on Michelle's face as well as his.

She looked past him, smirked and picked up her notepad and pen. She wrote down a few words and showed him.

_Isn't that your luggage?_

Max turned to see his luggage being pulled out by the waves. He stood up and ran out there with Michelle behind him.

--

Josie walked over to the cages, and stood in front of Felicity.

'you're Felicity, right?' Josie asked.

'friends and people who capture me can call me Flick,' she said bitterly.

'okay.'

'and you're Josephine, right?' she asked.

'friends and people I capture can call me Josie,' she smirked.

'what do you want?' she asked.

'I just wanted to talk to you. You're special, you know that right?'

'oh, yes, I'm special, I've heard that. It's been mentioned along with the Morel Phenomenon, which no one ever explains to me what the Hell it is.'

'us Morel women,' Josie said, deciding to tell her. 'we are born with a genetic anomaly.'

'is that bad?'

'no, not really. But our resident psychic-'

'you guys have a psychic?' Flick asked. 'cool.'

'yes, very,' Josie smiled. 'you met her yesterday.'

'oh the Chinese woman,' Flick nodded.

'yes, Isobel. She's told us before that when your mother, my mother, and Emmeline, our cousin, her mother-'

'is Isobel okay?'

'she's fine. But when the three Morel sisters: Evangeline, Katarina and Angelica, were all pregnant, all at the same time, Isobel almost died from the intensity of the vision she had when she touched their pregnant stomachs. So therefore, they sent Angelica to Canada and your mother to France, hoping that the three of us would never meet. Because, if we did, apparently the consequences would be catastrophic for the people here.'

'what?' she asked, her eyes widening. 'why?'

'one of us is light, one is dark, and the third is morally grey. Apparently all together it wouldn't matter at all, we'd just....'

'be dark,' Flick and Josie said at the same time.

'which one do you think you are?' Flick asked.

'either dark or grey,' she said. 'I think you're light.'

'really?'

'yeah,' she nodded.

The two cousins smiled at each other.

--

Laura watched as her best friend, her sister, was lowered into the ground. This wasn't fair. This was not fair at all. Jenny was young; she had a whole life ahead of her. This was not fair.

The two of them had always been a team, always stood by each other. Now it was just Laura against the world.

The words Jack said, the eulogy, went right through Laura. She didn't process them.

She felt a presence behind her and someone stand next to her. Without looking, she knew who it was.

'you're supposed to be resting,' Laura whispered. After all, he had been stabbed the day before.

'couldn't let you go through this alone,' Jason murmured back.

His hand brushed Laura's and she had a thought. Maybe, just maybe, she didn't have to be alone.

Maybe she didn't have to be by herself against the world.

--

'hey, my favourite murderer,' Yoon sat down next to Sammy.

'since when do you talk to me?' he raised an eyebrow. 'wait a minute,' his eyes narrowed in realization. 'What do you want?'

'glad you asked,' she said. 'so Sawyer has a case of mine,' she began.

'so ask him for it.'

'not that simple. He won't give Kate hers, so he won't give me mine. And I need your expertise.'

'really?' he asked sarcastically. 'why don't you just kill him?'

Yoon's eyes flashed in anger and she turned. 'fine. I'll get it my own way.'

Sammy grabbed her arm. 'wait. I never said I wouldn't help you, Yoon.'

--

Matt sat next to Izzie's bed, waiting for her to wake. He was in luck when her eyes opened.

'Matt,' she said hoarsely. 'water,' she added. He gave her a glass of water and sat back down.

'Izzie,' he said. 'could you please stop trying to kill yourself?'

'what do you mean?' she asked.

'Iz, even though you almost die every single time you try and make sense of Morel Phenomenon, you keep doing it. One day you won't wake up.'

'but I might,' she said. 'you were reading my lips, weren't you?' she asked.

'is it true?'

'as far as I can tell,' she said sadly.

She looked at him before her body started shaking.

She was having a seizure.

--

It was right on sunset, and Laura was looking out to sea. She still couldn't believe it. Jenny was dead. As in gone. Not breathing. Ceasing to exist. Dead.

She felt the familiar presence behind her, like right behind her.

He put his hands on her arms. 'you okay, Blondie?'

'I preferred it when you called me bitch, Jason,' she said.

'you're dodging the question.'

'I'm fine,' she said. His hands never moved from her arms and she found herself leaning into his warm chest. His shirtless chest, she realized.

'wow, your skin is really warm,' she said.

'maybe yours is cold,' he said.

She turned her head to raise her eyebrow at him, and gasped involuntarily. She had seen him bloody the day before, but she didn't realize that he had a few cuts on his face, and a black eye.

'you're lucky they didn't kill you,' Laura said.

'they were going to,' he told her.

It was only now that Jason realized that Laura possibly had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen.

Laura leaned up slowly. She had never wanted to kiss someone as much as she did in this moment.

Jason looked at her and leaned down to kiss her.

They were so close to meeting each other's lips.

'Jason!' a voice yelled out. 'you're supposed to be resting!'

It was Jack.

Jason and Laura sighed in unison and pulled away from each other. Laura went back to looking out at the sea.

'I'm sorry about your friend, Laura,' he said before walking away.

Maybe it was her imagination, but she could have sworn that Jason kissed the top of her head before he left.

--

'Jack!' Maya, Deniz, Kate, Shannon, Yoon and Roxy all exclaimed at once in annoyance.

'what?' he asked.

'you just ruined their moment!' Roxy exclaimed. The group of them had been watching Laura and Jason, and were somewhat disappointed when they didn't kiss.

'what do you mean?'

'God, you annoy me sometimes,' Maya said.

'they were in a moment,' Shannon said.

'a stare in each other's eyes-' Kate said.

'-lean in for the kiss-' Yoon said.

'-moment,' they all finished in unison.

'and you ruined it,' Deniz said matter-of-factly.

'sorry,' Jack said. He wondered briefly how they all kept up with the island gossip before he walked away.

--

Kate silently entered Sawyer's tent to see him sleeping, her case in between his knees. She moved forward and quickly grabbed it, but Sawyer woke up and tripped her. She let go of the case and fell on Sawyer, who held her still.

'Gotcha,' he said.

'Get off of me,' she hissed.

'Golly, I hate to bicker about positions, sweetheart. But I think you're the one on top,' he said. he smirked. 'Maybe you're not here for the case at all.'

Kate scowled at him and head butt him, and tried to grab the case as Sawyer grabbed his head in pain.

He fought her for the case, and soon won.

'If you wanted to play rough, all you had to do was say so. You want to try for it again?' Sawyer asked.

'Give it to me,' she demanded.

'No.'

Kate angrily walked out of the tent.

--

'damn it,' Yoon muttered, watching Kate angrily walk out of Sawyer's tent and Sawyer standing at the entrance, one of the cases in his hands. Sammy was next to Yoon. 'can't get it now.'

'I've got a way to get it. You might be opposed to it though,' Sammy said.

'what is it?' she sighed.

'distract him, I'll get it,' he said. 'I really want to see what's in it.'

'distract him?' she asked. 'how?' she asked, knowing that he had a way for her to do so, and she wouldn't like it.

'kiss him,' he smirked.

'no. Hell no,' she crossed her arms over her chest. 'do you know what would happen if I did that? He would annoy me all the time.'

'yeah. That's why I'm asking you to do it,' he smirked.

She punched his arm. 'I will not be kissing him.'

'wow. I never figured a murderer would actually have some morals.'

'I prefer survivor,' she said. 'just, find a way to get my case from Sawyer while I go check on James.'

'manipulator can work too,' Sammy added as she walked away.

--

_Sammy sat in a rental car, watching, waiting. He had been told. He had been told that this was where he lived. Where the one who had killed her was. The last one left. It had been a group of them, but he had gotten them all. He had travelled all over and killed them all._

_And now it was just Ryan Harper left._

_The leader of them all._

_And Ryan would be dead soon._

_--_

'is it really your birthday?' Dom asked Flick.

'it really is,' Flick said, turning to him.

'how old are you?' he asked.

'eighteen,' she answered.

'happy birthday then,' he smiled at her. 'huh. Eighteen.'

'what?' she asked.

'nothing, it's just I thought you were twenty or something.'

'well, how old are you?' she asked.

'twenty-two,' he said.

'huh. That's interesting. I thought that you were around twenty.'

She smiled at him and across in the other cage, Eva rolled her eyes.

--

'I think we should keep moving,' Constance said.

'what?' Ana asked her. The two were standing away from the group, watching them.

They watched Akilina meditating, as Lucian and Induala stood near her and made sure that no one bothered her. No one trusted her, no one thought that she was on the plane. Except for the two of them.

'whether or not Akilina is a mole, whether or not she is really one of Them, we need to keep moving. I can't shake the feeling that we're being watched. And sooner or later, some of us will be taken. We need to keep moving.'

'maybe we do,' Ana said.

--

Laura walked through the jungle, having taken it upon herself to join the search party for Claire and Erica. Of course, they had already left so she was now walking around the jungle, by herself, a knife at her waist.

She heard a sound behind her, the sound of a twig snapping and turned around.

There was a woman there.

A woman with very dark eyes who was also very tall who had two knives at her waist.

'you must be Laura,' she said. 'Jennifer's friend.'

'how...do you know- who are you?' Laura asked.

'my name is Camilla. I am the one who killed your friend.'

--

'what are you doing?' Sammy asked, a bemused expression on his face as he watched Yoon.

'trying to find the damn key for my case,' she snapped as she searched her tent.

'want some help?' he asked, sitting down next to her and helping her go through the bag with her.

'I'm fine,' she said. he ignored her and continued going through the bag with her. He felt something cold, like metal. He picked it up and looked slightly shocked.

'is this...?' he trailed off, holding up the gold chain with three rings on it up to Yoon.

'yes,' she said shortly. 'that is my engagement ring, and my wedding ring, and my husband's wedding ring. Any other questions?'

'did you love him?' Sammy asked her softly.

'what?'

'or was it just a game to you? Was it your cover in Australia?'

Yoon blinked back a tear and turned to him, holding up a key. 'found it,' she said softly.

She turned and walked out of her tent.

Sammy watched her go but didn't follow.

--

Aryel laughed cruelly.

'you're trying to pick the lock of a Halliburton?' she asked through her laughter to Sawyer, who was indeed trying to pick the lock of Kate's Halliburton.

'I think that's obvious,' Eli smirked.

'you're wasting your time,' Roxy said. 'you can't pick the lock of a Halliburton.'

'there ain't a lock I can't pick,' Sawyer informed them all.

'sweetie,' Roxy said. 'I'd say there is a lock you can't pick.'

'The only way you're going to open that case is with pure force,' Aryel told him. 'Impact velocity.'

'or the key,' Yoon added, walking over and taking her case from next to Sawyer.

'hey!'

She rolled her eyes and took the key out of her pocket. 'it's my case,' she said, trying to unlock the case.

'then how come your key isn't working?' Sawyer asked.

'it's the wrong damn key,' she muttered. She stood up and went back to her tent.

'impact velocity....' Sawyer trailed off in thought.

--

_Sammy got out of his car twenty minutes after Ryan had gone inside his apartment building and walked towards the building. He went inside and got out the piece of paper in his pocket._

Apartment 8 on floor 15.

_He nodded and went to the elevator, passing a pregnant Asian woman talking on her phone in a foreign language. _

_He got in the elevator and waited for it to get to the fifteenth floor._

_He had waited so long for this._

_--_

'how's she doing?' Juliet asked, walking into the Staff.

'depends which "she" you're asking about,' Ethan told her. 'Claire is going well, she's responding well to the medication. Izzie on the other hand has been seizing and flat lining all day.'

'and how's Matt going with that?' Juliet asked.

'he's been the one stabilizing her all day,' he shrugged. 'hasn't left her side.'

Juliet nodded and walked down the corridor towards the room where she knew Izzie was.

She walked into the room and was surprised when Josh was there next to Izzie instead of Matt. He was sitting in a chair right next to Izzie, holding her hand.

'hey,' she said. 'I thought Matt was here with her.'

'he was,' Josh said. 'but he needed to go back to the Barracks to run some tests on the West girl. So I offered to stay with Izzie.'

She nodded. 'it's funny, I never knew Matt had a sister.'

'no one does until she comes back. He prefers not to talk about her when she's not here,' Josh said. 'she's came back three times now. She can't stay away. Matt and Izzie may be of Chinese Descent, but they consider themselves truly from this Island. So do a lot of us who were born here.'

'born on this island....' Juliet trailed off in thought.

'yeah. Back before all these pregnancy problems,' he said. 'Izzie and Matt, Ethan, Kat, Eva, their sister Angie. Josie. Me.'

'what about Ben?'

Josh shook his head. 'contrary to popular belief, Juliet, Ben was not born on this Island. The only person we consider a native who wasn't born on this island is Lani, because she was here long before anyone else. It's up to speculation on how long she's been here, none of us know.'

Juliet opened her mouth but they were interrupted by a groan.

They turned to see Izzie opening her eyes.

'how long have I been out this time?' she asked, grinning.

'stop making it into a joke, Iz,' Josh said. 'a couple hours.'

''kay. How long until I can get out of here?'

'do I look like a doctor?' he raised an eyebrow.

'no, smart guy, but there's a pretty blonde behind you who looks like she knows what she's doing.'

Juliet looked up from where she was reading her chart and smiled at her.

'I'm Dr Burke. Juliet,' she added.

'I'm Dr Chang. Izzie,' she returned.

'you're a doctor too?' Juliet asked.

'psychologist. Did a year in med school before I moved to psychology,' she answered. 'so? What's my prognosis?'

'that you have a death wish,' Matt said, walking in. 'or you like cheating death.'

'I'll go for the second one,' Josh said.

'you know me so well,' Izzie said. In unison they turned and grinned at Matt.

'and you're not taking this seriously either, Josh,' Matt said.

'come on,' Josh said. 'you all said it years ago. Izzie and I are on the same brain wave, which is-'

'-completely different from the rest of you,' Izzie finished.

'yeah,' Matt said. He looked at the two of them knowingly.

'shut up,' Izzie hissed in Mandarin at him as Josh mouthed the same words to Matt.

'help me up,' Izzie said to Josh. 'I need to go see Kat.'

She sat up in the bed.

'you've been flat lining all day, Iz,' Matt said. 'you can't.'

'was I asking you?' she asked. 'didn't think so. Josh.'

Josh put his arm around Izzie's waist and helped her out of the bed. Izzie smiled.

'what?' Josh asked.

'nothing,' she smiled happily at him. This was one of the times when she hoped that no one changed the future.

--

'hey, Katherine,' Yoon said, sitting down next to Kate.

'_this _is your plan?' Sammy asked sceptically.

'so I need your help,' Yoon said to Kate, ignoring Sammy.

'no,' Kate said.

'Kate, Kate, Kate,' Yoon said. 'you want your case. I get that. And I want mine. You should get that. As a criminal, I guess that you really need something from the case, and you really will do anything for it. And I guess it's dangerous. Just like us.'

Kate looked sideways at Sammy.

'oh, don't worry about him,' Yoon said dismissively. 'he's just like us. He's a murderer too.'

'I thought you go by survivor?' Sammy muttered.

'shut it,' she snapped. She turned back to Kate. 'so I want my case, you want yours. And Sawyer has them. So what I'm suggesting is that we work together.'

'the two of us....working together?' Kate asked.

'no. The three of us working together,' Yoon corrected. 'to get what's rightfully ours.'

--

_Sammy walked down the hallway, to apartment eight. He could feel the gun at his waist and couldn't wait to use it. He knocked on the door._

'_can I help you?' the man asked._

'_come on, Ryan,' Sammy said in a fake cheery voice. 'don't tell me you don't remember your old friend!'_

'_Sammy?' he asked curiously._

'_ah, good, you remember,' he said._

'_come on in!' Ryan exclaimed._

_Sammy walked in. _

'_so what brings you to Sydney?' Ryan asked, walking to the kitchen with Sammy behind him._

'_I need to kill someone,' he shrugged._

_Ryan turned quickly, shocked, and knocked over a photo frame in the process. _

_Sammy had briefly seen it was a wedding photo, and he hesitated slightly. He didn't need to kill Ryan. He had a life._

_No. Addison had a life too and Ryan had taken it. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth._

'_who?' Ryan asked. 'anyone I would know?'_

'_you've heard, I assume? About Riley, Zach, Shane, Beau, Damon?' Sammy asked._

'_yes. I have heard about their deaths,' he said, trying to hide his fear._

'_I came to Sydney to kill the person who started it all,' Sammy said. Ryan walked to the kitchen and Sammy followed._

'_and who is that?'_

_Sammy waited until Ryan turned around, he wanted to see the light leave his eyes._

_Finally Ryan turned to see Sammy pointing a gun in his face._

'_you,' he said._

_He pulled the trigger and Ryan fell to the ground, dead, a bullet between his eyes._

_Sammy left the apartment._

_His work there was done._

_--_

Sawyer was climbing a tree. He angled one of the cases over a huge rock on the ground. He dropped it but it didn't open, it just bounced around and stopped next to the other case.

'Son of a.... Unbelievable!' he exclaimed.

Suddenly Kate and Yoon ran out of the jungle towards the cases.

'hey!' Sawyer yelled. The two looked up at him and smirked. 'don't even think about it!' he yelled.

Kate and Yoon ignored him and grabbed their cases.

--

Sawyer was chasing Kate and Yoon through the jungle. He caught up to them and tackled Kate to the ground. Yoon stopped and turned.

'Hell, Freckles, I knew you wanted it,' Sawyer said. 'I just didn't know how badly.'

He looked at Yoon.

'and you, Chinese Whispers. What is so important that is in these cases that you two have to fight me for them?'

Kate tried to head butt him again, but he pulled back.

'you're gonna have to get a new trick, Freckles,' Sawyer said. 'I've got a proposition for you. You tell me what's inside and I'll give it to you.'

'seriously?' Kate asked. Sammy walked over to them.

'Hell, no way to open the damn thing. At this point all I care about is satisfying my own curiosity.'

'this is my case, Sawyer,' Yoon said. 'it's rightfully mine. I don't give a damn what kind of vendetta you and Kate have, but this is my case. And I am taking my case.'

'fair enough, Chinese Whispers. But Freckles here, this ain't her case. She just wants something from inside it.'

Kate went for the case, but Sawyer pulled it away. 'sweetheart, I don't really care what it is. What's burning me up is why it means so much to you. So you tell me, I give it to you.'

She stood there defiantly.

'alright then,' he said, walking away with Kate's case.

--

'my name is Camilla. I am the one who killed your friend.'

Laura stared at the woman. This was the woman who killed Jenny? Who killed her sister? Her best friend?

'why....why are you telling me this?' Laura asked.

'thought you should know. She was a fighter. I was really surprised at how hard it was to kill her. But then she showed a moment of weakness. So I attacked. One knife to the neck, one to the heart. She was very shocked. She bled a lot. It just sort of came from everywhere. It was a bloodbath. My spec-'

She was cut off when Laura punched her face.

Cam laughed cruelly and hit her right back, knocking her to the ground. Laura tripped her and got out her knife. The knife grazed Cam's arm. She stood up and got her two knives out and stood over Laura, ready for the kill.

'this will be fun,' Cam said, moving closer.

'Camilla,' a voice said, walking out of the trees.

Cam looked over her shoulder. 'where have you been at?' she asked the woman.

'let her go,' Lani said. 'she's needed later.'

Cam sighed and turned around, quickly knocking Laura out with a punch to the face before she left the clearing with Lani.

--

'you're an idiot,' Yoon hissed to Kate. 'you got Jack involved?'

'it's the only way I can get my case,' she said. 'he knows about me. I won't tell him about you, but he knows about me.'

'okay, have fun with that.'

--

'why are we digging again?' Lucy asked Deniz.

'it's just something to do,' Deniz shrugged. 'we might find something.'

'or we might not,' Lucy said.

The two girls shrugged and kept digging. After a minute Deniz felt something.

'what is that?' Deniz asked, looking at Lucy.

'I don't know.'

The two continued digging.

--

_Sammy walked through the airport, on his way to gate 23._

_He sighed. After all this time, after all these years, they had finally paid for their actions._

_All of them had finally paid for them._

_But this last kill had struck something in him. Ryan had been married. All of the others had been deadbeats, but Ryan had turned over a new leaf and was married. And the more he thought about it, the more he remembered that the Asian woman who was pregnant who he passed on the way to kill Ryan was the same woman from the wedding photo. _

_He had made the woman a widow and her child fatherless._

_And yes, it had been Ryan's fault, he had started it all, but he did feel guilty about doing that to the Asian woman._

_She was innocent in all of this, and yet she had to suffer more than anyone._

_He sighed again and briefly wondered what he would do with his life now._

_--_

'so we just keep walking?' Ashley asked Ana.

'yes. We just keep walking,' Ana told her.

There was a pause for a second.

'why?' Akilina asked.

'oh, honey, you don't have a right to ask these kind of questions,' Ashley said coldly. 'you are not one of us. So don't act like it.'

'hey!' Lucian exclaimed. 'this girl, standing right next to me is scared as Hell, okay?' he said. 'she has her reasons for not telling us she could speak English, she has her reasons for lying. But she was on the plane. So if you could all just stop trying to crucify her, it would be a lot easier. Got it?'

Ashley nodded, at a loss for words.

There was a sound of a twig snapping and they all turned towards the sound, all of them silent.

'...I'm just saying, you disappear for three weeks, and expect me not to ask questions?' a voice asked.

'Libby,' Constance murmured. 'pass me the gun.'

'what?' Libby asked, slightly scared.

'can you use a gun?' Constance asked her.

'no, but-'

'then pass it to me.'

Serena watched where the voices were coming from and got her own gun from her waist. She had taken it from a dead person, thinking that they could use it.

A woman walked out of the trees and Serena shot on instinct.

Everyone looked at her in shock.

The other woman with the now shot woman took out a gun and shot at Serena. It hit her in the arm, and went straight through, hitting Damien in the chest.

The woman who had shot at them picked up the other woman and ran. 'you're going to be okay, Lani,' she murmured as she went.

Erin caught Damien in her arms.

--

Lucy and Deniz looked at the box between them, the box they had just dug up.

Deniz looked at the writing on the box.

'who's Kiana Kalani?' she asked Lucy.

Lucy shrugged.

--

Yoon and Sammy were sitting on edge of the jungle, away from the others.

Yoon unlocked her case and showed him the contents.

'guns,' he said. 'knives. And....what's that?' he asked.

'plastic explosives,' Yoon said. 'satisfied? you've seen it,' she said, closing the case and locking it.

'sure,' he stood up to leave.

She stood up and grabbed his arm. 'Sammy,' she said softly.

'what?'

'you asked me, you asked me if I loved him or if it was a game. I did. I loved him. But...at first it was my cover. And then I grew to love him. I loved him so much, Sammy. Please don't question that.'

'okay,' he said softly, looking at her. They were really close to each other, he realized.

She leaned up to his lips.

They were so close.

'Yoon,' Sammy murmured.

'yeah?'

'I killed your husband. Ryan. I killed Ryan.'

--

**Uh oh. Sammy's gonna die, it looks like. And Lani was shot, and so were Serena and Damien. Laura's knocked out (plus she almost kissed Jason!). And who is Kiana Kalani? Any theories?**


	16. Seasons Came and Changed the Time

**Okay, so this chapter is extremely crazy, but that's only because....well, you'll see. **_Italics _**are flashbacks, **normal **are real time events, and bold is the tripped out stuff (dreams, or in limbo, whatever you want to call it). And that brackets probably made you go "WTF?" so enjoy. Oh, and there will be more flashbacks this chapter because there just has to be to make sense.**

_A fifteen year old girl looked over her shoulder as she walked down a dark alleyway at night. She shouldn't have been here. But she couldn't help it. She had to see him. The man she loved._

_She walked into the village stables and smiled when she felt the familiar warm arms wrap themselves around her._

'_I did not see you at the ceremony,' the girl said softly._

'_and witness another man kiss you, another man hold you?' the boy said just as softly. 'no, Kia. I could not have been able to see that. I would have surely hurt the man... Iokua?' he said._

'_yes, that is his name. I wish I didn't have to marry him, Kekipi,' the girl, Kia, said softly. 'I wish I could just marry you instead.'_

'_but you cannot. For I am just a village boy, not worthy of the love of such perfection,' he said._

_Kia giggled. 'did you just mock my mother?'_

'_I believe I did,' he smiled._

_Kia smiled at him. 'one day, Kekipi...'_

'_one day...?' he questioned._

'_one day, we will be together out in the open.'_

'_I know. One day.'_

'_One day.'_

--

Cam burst into the Staff, Lani still in her arms. 'I need a doctor!!' she yelled out.

Ethan, Juliet, Matt and Esther ran out of various rooms and gaped at Lani. Not a single one of them had seen Lani hurt in any way.

Ethan recovered first and ran forward and took Lani from Cam.

Cam turned around to leave.

'you're not staying?' Juliet asked.

'I have to get Richard,' she said.

'firstly,' Esther said. 'how was she shot?'

'the survivors,' Cam said before running out.

--

'I killed your husband. Ryan. I killed Ryan.'

Yoon looked at him in shock. 'I'm sorry, I'm sure I hallucinated. Did you just say you killed my husband?'

He nodded. 'I'm sorry, Yoon.'

Yoon punched him hard in the face three times in quick succession.

Petro and Luka looked over in surprise and curiosity.

Yoon hit Sammy again, and he took it. He knew he deserved it for what he did to her, to her husband, to her child.

'Yoon, what's-' Jack asked, walking over with a group of people behind him.

'let her hit me,' Sammy said calmly.

'oh no, do not act like you deserve this!' Yoon shrieked. 'fight back, damn it! Then when I kill you it will at least be a fair fight!'

Sammy grabbed her wrist and tripped her, knocking her to the ground.

She grabbed his arm and pulled him down with her elbowing him in the face.

'Yoon!' Jack exclaimed.

'stay out of this!' they both snarled at the same time. Maya pulled Jack back.

'let them,' she whispered. 'this is bigger than us. I don't know what it's about, but it's their fight, okay?'

Yoon punched him yet again and he head butt her, so she drew back. He knocked her off him and stood up.

She held her head and stood up too. It was then he noticed that she was crying.

'Yoon,' he said softly. 'I'm sorry.'

'no you're not,' she snapped. 'why'd you do it? Hmm? Why'd you do it?'

'years ago he was a part of a group that killed my sister,' he said.

'uh huh. Years ago. _Years_. Not now. Not in Australia. He was a good person, Samuel! He was my husband! And you...you just....you....'

She couldn't say it. She couldn't.

'I didn't know he was your husband when I did it,' he said softly.

She punched him again and walked past the group.

'Yoon,' Sun said hesitantly. 'what happened? What did he do?'

'it doesn't matter,' she said softly. 'it doesn't matter.'

--

Lucy and Deniz looked through the contents of the box. There were a few diaries, a few antique jewellery pieces and small portraits.

In one of the portraits there was a young woman with a baby boy in her arms.

'she's really pretty,' Lucy said.

'yeah,' Deniz agreed.

--

Erin cried.

She couldn't believe it. Three hours ago she was talking to her younger brother. Three hours ago she was talking to her brother, to Damien, and now she was watching him being buried.

It was all Serena's fault. If she hadn't shot in the first place, the other woman wouldn't have shot, and the bullet wouldn't have gone through Serena's arm and kill her brother.

She watched her brother being buried.

Erin cried.

--

Ben, Kat and Richard were talking when Cam ran through the Barracks towards them, covered in blood.

'Cam?' Kat asked. 'are you okay?'

'I am, she's not,' Cam said, stopping in front of them.

'who?' Ben asked.

Cam turned to Richard. 'come now,' she said to him. 'quickly.'

'Camilla,' he said calmly. 'what is going on? Whose blood is that?'

'it's-it's Lani. She was shot by the survivors.'

Richard's usually calm face changed – and quickly. A range of emotions crossed his face – confusion, realization, anger, fear, love.

'the Staff?' he asked.

She nodded and the two ran off.

--

**Lani's eyes opened. She was in the jungle. It seemed brighter than usual. She sat up and looked around her.**

**She gasped involuntarily.**

**In front of her was a handsome man, one she hadn't seen in a few centuries.**

'**Kekipi?' she asked, stunned.**

'**hello, love,' he said.**

'**am I....dead?' she asked.**

'**that's entirely your choice,' another voice said.**

**She turned her head and gaped at the woman. 'Halia,' she said in shock.**

'**hello, my sister,' the girl said.**

**--**

'she's lost too much blood!' Juliet exclaimed.

'then we need to get someone who has her blood type,' Matt said.

'well, what is her blood type?'

Ethan quickly read her file. 'A+,' he told them.

'I'm A+,' Juliet told them.

'then get ready for a transfusion.'

'no, don't.'

They all turned to see Cam and Richard walk into the room. Richard was staring at Lani.

'what do you mean?' Ethan asked Cam.

'Lani doesn't age,' she said sadly. 'the people who don't age can't get a transfusion from people who do. It will throw her entire system out of whack.'

'how do you know?'

'I've seen it before. It killed someone who used to not age,' she said.

'what?' they gasped.

'no blood can be transfused into her.'

'what about yours?' Juliet asked. 'you don't age either.'

'Richard and I are B-. So that won't work either.'

'so there's nothing we can do for her?' Matt asked.

'there is one thing,' Cam looked at Richard, as if asking him for permission.

'don't. It will change her,' he said.

Cam bit her lip and nodded.

--

'_Kekipi!' the young girl, Kia, hissed. 'Kekipi!'_

'_I'm here, Kia,' the boy said, rushing in. 'what's wrong?' he added when he saw her face, the tears of joy streaming down her face._

'_I am carrying your child,' she said matter-of-factly._

'_are you serious?' he smiled._

'_yes,' she cried. 'and Iokua. Iokua....'_

'_thinks it's his,' Kekipi finished for her._

'_I can't do this anymore, Keki,' she said._

'_what?' he asked._

'_I've been married to Iokua for two years. two years. And I've been with you all this time. And...I can't do it anymore. I'm....I'm going to tell them. I'll tell them that I love you! And I want to be with you! I don't care what they think! I love you.'_

'_I love you too, Kia,' he smiled at her, putting a hand on her stomach._

_She smiled and placed her hand over his._

_--_

'**this is so in my head, isn't it?' Lani said to the two people in front of her.**

'**no idea,' Halia said. 'you called us here.'**

'**I didn't call you here!' she exclaimed. 'and if I did, you both know, no offence, that the first person I would want to see would be-'**

'**me?' a voice asked behind her.**

**She turned around and hugged the teenage boy. **

'**yes, Maleko. You,' she said. A tear fell from her eye.**

'**oh, stop crying, mother,' Maleko said. 'it was not your fault.'**

'**that you died? Yes, it was.'**

**--**

Yoon walked into the infirmary. She still couldn't believe Sammy.

'heard you went all psycho, apparently,' James said to her. 'is that right?'

'sure, if that's what they're saying, then yes,' she said. she moved one of his bandages and checked his burns.

'are you okay?' James asked, concerned.

'if I told you something, something personal, private, would you tell anyone?' she asked.

'no. I only know you here, I wouldn't tell anyone.' He was now really concerned.

She nodded. 'I...I'm not South Korean.'

James waited for a moment. 'is that all? Who cares if you're not South Korean?'

'I'm a North Korean operative,' she said, her accent changing back to her true accent.

James looked at her, finally understanding.

'go on,' he said.

--

'_I knew it! I knew it all along!' Kala, one of Kia's sisters, exclaimed loudly._

'_Kala, please,' Kia said. _

'_no, Kala won't be pleasing anyone, least of all you!' she exclaimed. 'you're an adulterous whore!'_

_Kia watched as her other siblings, her husband, her parents; all her family just watched as Kala insult her._

_She turned to her mother. 'mother-'_

'_Kiana, you have brought shame on this family,' her mother, Apikalia, said. 'how could you do this?'_

'_I....you can't choose who you love, mother,' Kia said softly._

'_is he the one that got you pregnant?' Kia's father, Ekewaka, demanded._

'_I...yes, father, he is,' Kia told them._

'_disgraceful,' Ekewaka said softly._

'_father-'_

'_you are no longer a part of this family, Kiana.'_

'_father-'_

'_you are no longer allowed under this roof.'_

'_father-'_

'_you should leave Lahaina.'_

'_father-'_

'_no, she should leave Hawaii altogether,' Kia's older brother, Koi, said._

'_Koi,' Kia said softly. Koi was her best friend. And now he was against her._

'_I cannot believe you, Kiana,' he said, turning away._

'_please, just leave,' Apikalia said to Kiana. 'leave Hawaii, Kiana.'_

_Kia nodded and swallowed back tears. 'I'm sorry, mother,' she said softly._

'_we will see you off tomorrow,' Apikalia said. 'but after that you will not contact us again, Kiana. You have brought shame to this family. But until tomorrow at sundown you will still be a part of this family. We will see you tomorrow evening,' she said._

_Kiana nodded and left the building._

_--_

'**why are you all here?' Lani asked, as she walked through the jungle.**

'**you called us here,' Halia said.**

'**I did not call you here!' she exclaimed. They had reached the **_**Black Rock**_**, and Lani climbed up to the top of it. The three people who were with her appeared behind her.**

'**you did,' Kekipi said. 'the question is, why?'**

'**how do you remember us, when you lost your memory right after I died?' Maleko asked.**

'**I've been having dreams lately....I keep remembering more since I got my memoirs back.'**

'**and this man, this...Richard?' Halia asked. 'does he know about who you really are?'**

'**if you question is does he know that before this island that I was an adulterous whore, then no. I'm still coming to terms with it myself.'**

'**do you love him?' Kekipi asked.**

'**I do,' she nodded.**

**--**

Cam and Richard watched through the door as Juliet, Esther, Matt and Ethan operated on Lani.

'Richard,' Cam said softly. 'we will have to take her to the Temple. It's the only way.'

'I will not- you saw what it did to Ben,' Richard said.

'what if she dies?' Cam asked. 'what if Lani dies, Richard?'

He turned and looked at her.

'I can't do that to her,' he said.

'I know, Richard, I know,' she said. 'you love her, and you don't want her to be like Ben, because let's face it, even though he's a good leader, he's still bad, because of what we did to him thirty years ago. But this is Lani. _Lani_. Healing her at the Temple, it may take someone's innocence, but Lani lost her innocence a Hell of a long time ago. And apparently she was healed from a fall a long time ago too. And where do you think Jacob took her? Hmm?'

Richard looked through the door and then back at Cam.

'let's go,' he said, walking through the door with Cam right behind him.

'what the Hell are you doing in here?' Esther demanded.

'you said she had lost too much blood,' Richard said.

'and you said no one could give her a transfusion,' Esther said.

'so we are trying to save her even though she has lost too much blood,' Juliet said.

'we can save her,' Cam said.

'what?' they all asked in unison.

'there's a place, a place that can heal some people,' Richard said.

'we're going to take her there,' Cam added.

'are you sure this will work?' Matt asked them.

Richard and Cam looked at each other.

'no,' Cam said finally. 'but it's the only thing that might save her. So? You gonna let us take her, or are we gonna have to physically make you let us take her?'

The four doctors looked at each other. 'take her,' they said in unison.

'okay,' Richard nodded, moving past them and picking her up carefully.

She stirred slightly and Richard kissed her forehead as he walked out of the room with her.

Cam silently followed him.

--

'....so that's why I attacked him,' Yoon finished her story. James had been looking at her transfixed throughout her story. 'he killed my husband.'

He looked at her in thought.

'and now you think I'm bloody scum for betraying not one, but two of the countries I've held citizenship for,' she sighed.

'you did what you had to do to survive. It's fair enough.'

'you don't... hate me?' Yoon asked.

'no,' he said.

He smiled at her.

Yoon sighed and smiled weakly back.

--

'I'm fine,' Laura said. 'I was knocked out by the woman who killed Jenny, but I'm fine.'

She pushed Petro away from her and stood up.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jason walk in his tent.

After a moment of hesitation, she followed him.

--

_Kiana stood with her family at the docks, in front of a huge ship._

_She turned around to her family._

'_I guess this is me saying good bye,' Kia said softly to them._

'_and I guess this is me saying good riddance,' Kala said._

_Kia's younger sister, Halia, elbowed her in the ribs. 'and this is me saying good luck,' she said to Kia._

_She ran forward and hugged Kia._

'_I don't want you to go, Kia,' she cried._

'_I don't want to go either, Halia,' she said. 'but I have to. After everything I've done.'_

'_I love you,' she said._

'_I love you too,' Kia said._

_She drew back and dug into her bag. She took out a wooden box and passed it to Kia._

_Kia ran her fingers along the words engraved on it "Kiana Kalani". 'thank you,' she whispered. 'thank you.'_

'_Kia!!'_

_They all looked up to see someone running down the docks towards them. _

_Kia smiled. It was Kekipi._

_She passed the box to Halia for a moment._

_Kekipi ran up to her and picked her up, spinning her around. 'I don't want you to go, Kia,' he said._

'_I don't want to either, Keki,' she told him. 'but I have to. After all the things I have done.'_

'_what have you done wrong? You have loved, is that wrong?'_

'_I loved the wrong person,' she said._

'_there is nothing wrong with that. Don't go.'_

'_I have to.'_

'_then I'll go with you,' he said._

'_no, don't. Just stay here,' she said._

'_I love you, Kiana Kalani,' he said defiantly._

'_and I love you too, Kekipi Akuna,' she said. 'but we can't be together. It was fun while it lasted, but you have to go back to your life. You can't come with me.'_

'_I will be accompanying you to...where are you going?'_

'_South America,' she said. 'and you most certainly won't be. I don't want you to.'_

'_what?'_

'_I don't want you to come with me.'_

'_oh. Well...that changes things,' he said softly. 'I won't bother you again,' he added. He hugged her. 'just do me one favour, please, Kia.'_

'_anything,' she promised._

'_call him Maleko,' he placed a hand on her stomach._

'_of course,' she nodded._

_The two stepped back from the hug and Kekipi saw she was crying._

'_Kiana,' he said softly, placing a hand on her face and wiping her tears. _

'_I know, Kekipi, I know,' she whispered. 'Me too.'_

'_the ship is going to leave in a few minutes,' Kala said coldly._

'_of course,' Kia said. She walked over to her family. 'I am so sorry that I've disappointed you all,' she said._

'_it's okay, Kia,' one of her sisters, Ema, said._

_She hugged each of her siblings – except for the still furious Kala – and turned to her parents._

'_I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I brought shame to our family, mother, father,' she said._

_Apikalia gave her a quick kiss on the cheek._

_Ekewaka quickly gave her a half hug and Kia turned to Kekipi._

'_Kekipi,' she said softly._

_He took her in his arms and kissed her fiercely. She kissed him back just as passionately._

_After a minute he broke away from her and Kia could see unshed tears in his eyes. 'I have to go, Kia. Always remember...' he trailed off._

'_you too,' she said softly. 'remember.'_

'_always.'_

_He kissed her quickly again and ran off down the dock._

_A few more tears fell down her cheeks._

_Halia hugged her again and passed her the wooden box._

'_don't forget us, Kia,' she said._

'_I will remember you for as long as I live,' she promised._

_--_

'**why didn't you move out of the way when you saw the bullet?' Maleko asked Lani.**

'**what?' she asked. **

'**your reflexes are better than that,' Halia agreed. 'so why didn't you move?'**

'**I think we all know why Kiana didn't move,' Kekipi said.**

'**and why is that?' Lani asked, crossing her arms over her chest. 'and my name is Lani!'**

'**your name is not Lani,' Kekipi said. 'your name is Kiana Ola Miliani Kakalina Alaula Kalani.'**

'**my name is Noelani Kalei, damn it!' she exclaimed. 'Kiana died a Hell of a long time ago.'**

'**how long ago?' Maleko asked.**

'**try 208 years ago.'**

'**after I died and you lost your memory,' he nodded.**

'**now anyway, why didn't you move?' Kekipi asked.**

**Lani looked at him.**

**--**

Laura silently entered Jason's tent. He was awake, and his eyes moved over to her for a second before returning to staring into nothingness.

'I heard the search hasn't been going well,' Laura said softly.

'like I would know, I'm not allowed to leave the beach while I'm still healing,' he snapped.

She raised an eyebrow and went silent.

Jason slowly sat up and looked at her, seeing the cut on her cheek. She would surely get a scar there. He silently reached over and put his hand over hers.

'sorry,' he finally said. she smiled slightly at him as he reached up his hand and lightly traced her cut. 'you should get that stitched up,' he told her.

She shook her head. 'I remember that Jenny got a cut on her cheek once and didn't need stitches, and it didn't scar,' she said sadly. A tear fell down her cheek and she got up. 'I have to go,' she said.

Jason reached up and grabbed her hand, pulling her down next to him. 'you can cry, if you want to,' he said.

'I can't,' she said. 'Claire's gone, Erica's gone, Sammy almost died at Yoon's hands, Josie betrayed us, Luka's heartbroken and James still has amnesia. I cannot cry. They all have the right to be upset, I don't.'

'your best friend died, Laura,' Jason said. 'my sister may be missing, but your best friend died. Grieve.'

Another tear fell down her cheek, followed by more. She started sobbing and Jason held her close to him.

He rubbed her back as she cried. Slowly she stopped crying, but he continued holding her. She looked up into his eyes, and he stared straight back, seeing her tears clinging to her eyelashes. He found her to be so beautiful in this moment. The cold Laura, the Laura he had first met was nothing compared to the woman in front of him now. Over the past few weeks she had let her guard down, and he had seen the stubborn and cold Laura change to a fun loving and nice Laura. Although she was still pretty stubborn, she had changed so much.

And she had never been as beautiful as she was in this moment.

Slowly, he leaned down and kissed her softly. It was not like the one Laura had given him two weeks before hand. She had been teasing him in that kiss. This one held everything he wanted to say to her, everything she meant to him. It held her feelings as much as it held his. It held her pain, her happiness, her love.

It held everything left unsaid.

The two of them broke away from each other. Laura smiled at him again. He wiped away her remaining tear and she put her head on his chest as he continued holding her.

The words may have been unspoken, but through their kiss, they had said everything.

--

_It was in the middle of a storm._

_Kia was standing on the deck, watching the thunder and lightning, watching the waves crash against the ship._

_She had never been so desolate in her life. She should have never left Hawaii. Or she should have let Kekipi come with her._

_It didn't matter anymore, she couldn't turn back time. She couldn't go back to where the love of her life was._

_So she stood on the edge of the ship, contemplating what used to be unthinkable to her._

_She didn't think of Kekipi, or her family, or Maleko. She just thought of herself. _

_And she jumped over the edge of the ship, hoping it would be quick._

_--_

'**why didn't you move, Kia?'Kekipi asked.**

'**maybe I have a death wish!' Lani snapped. **

'**what?' the three asked in unison, surprised. They were all lounging on the 4-toed statue, the three dead ones waiting for Lani to admit to them why she had done that. They had long since agreed that she wouldn't tell them.**

'**I tried to kill myself on the ship as I headed to South America,' she said. 'that is how I got here. If I hadn't been a coward, then I would have aged gracefully and died a long time ago.'**

'**so that makes you have a death wish?' Halia asked.**

'**maybe I just wanted to feel some kind of pain after all this time.'**

'"**maybe"?' Kekipi echoed.**

'**what else do you want for me?' she demanded.**

**The other three looked at each other.**

**--**

Max walked up to Michelle. He sat down next to her.

'so how is my favourite Zulu?' he asked cheerfully.

She smiled and wrote down a few words. _My wife is a Zulu, I am not._

'same difference,' he grinned. 'papaya?' he offered.

She nodded and he held it out to her. She took it from him, smiling.

_Thank you, _she wrote.

'Michelle,' Max said seriously. 'some of the other survivors, were sorting through some stuff, and they found something....they weren't sure if we should give it to you. But I think we should.'

_What is it? _She wrote.

'this,' he passed her a photo. Michelle looked at it and smiled widely. It was a picture of herself with Liliana, Mkabayi and Malik. She turned to Max.

She opened her mouth. 'thank you,' she whispered hoarsely.

Max grinned. 'no problem,' he told her. 'Michelle....you spoke. This is progress.'

_I know_, she wrote, smiling at him slightly.

He smiled and shook his head.

--

Cam and Richard carried Lani back to the Staff.

'it takes a few hours to take effect, doesn't it?' Cam asked.

'it does,' Richard said. 'between one and two hours.'

'she'll be okay, won't she?' Cam asked him.

Richard looked down at Lani's face, her face so beautiful and peaceful in this moment.

'I hope so,' he told her.

--

It was sunset and Laura was lying in the sand, her eyes closed.

'what are you doing?' Jason asked, a bemused look on his face as he stood above her.

Laura lazily opened one eye. 'blocking out everything in my solitude,' she said before closing her eyes.

'mind if I join you?' he asked.

'everything includes people, Jason,' she said, her eyes closed.

There was a beat of silence between them.

'mind if I join you?' he asked.

'solitude means by yourself, meaning by myself,' she said, her eyes still closed.

There was another moment of silence and Jason sat down next to her.

She opened both eyes. 'this is me, Agent of the FBI, trying to find one minute of time on this island by myself, okay?' she said.

'okay, you do that,' Jason said. 'I'm just sitting here, minding my own business.'

After another minute of silence, Laura spoke.

'if you want to kiss me again, just do it, okay?' she said, her eyes still closed.

'who said I wanted to kiss you again?' he smirked.

'why else would you be here?' she asked.

'to enjoy the view of the ocean,' he said.

'whatever,' she said. her eyes were still closed.

'okay, I'm going,' he said. He began to stand up, but thought better of it and leaned down to kiss her quickly on the lips.

Her eyes opened in surprise.

'if you wanted me to kiss you again, you could have just asked,' he said softly before walking away.

Laura sighed and closed her eyes.

Yeah, because she was really going to be able to block stuff out now.

--

'I don't think we should be lying to them, Locke,' Boone said as they walked through the jungle at night.

'me neither,' Roxy said matter-of-factly.

'we're not lying to them,' Locke said. 'we're-'

'just not telling them the truth,' Aryel finished.

'exactly,' Locke said.

The four of stopped suddenly when they heard the rustling of leaves.

'what was that?' Boone asked.

Someone walked out of the trees.

'Claire?'

'**maybe she wanted to end her life,' Kekipi said.**

'**wouldn't be the first time,' Halia agreed.**

'**okay, all of you, shut up,' Lani snapped. 'I thought, just for a second, a **_**second,**_** that what would it matter if I was shot? What would it matter if I died? So I didn't move because I was thinking that. I was asking myself, what's the point? What's the point in living to be....ten thousand or something like that? What's the point in watching everyone I care about die around me while I just live on? So I hesitated in moving, and I got shot. That's what happened. I wondered what the point of surviving was.'**

'**I think she's telling the truth,' Maleko said.**

'**I think so too,' Kekipi said.**

'**me too,' Halia added.**

'**I am,' Lani said.**

'**so everyone you care about will die soon enough?' Halia asked.**

'**yes. Scarlett, Molly, Kat, Josie, Ben, Giliam. All of them.'**

'**not all of them,' Kekipi said. 'what about Camilla and Richard?'**

'**I love them, and I will always be in the same places as them, but still....I've already seen many generations of people I care about die. You Halia, you Kekipi, and you Maleko.'**

'**did you know that those people you mentioned will be severely upset if you die?' Halia said.**

'**I don't want to die,' she said.**

'**and there's the point of this whole thing,' Maleko cheered.**

'**you need to go back to your body,' Kekipi said. 'this is just your spirit. You need to go. It's already been too long. Go, Noelani.'**

'**you called me Noelani,' she smiled.**

'**well, that's your name, isn't it?' he smiled back. 'Kiana, though, you will always be to me. Kiana....'**

'**I told you, I would always remember,' she said. 'I know you love me.'**

'**do you love me?' he said. 'or Richard?'**

'**I love Richard, but I will always love you, Keki,' she said. 'and you, Maleko. And you, Halia. I will never forget you all,' she said. 'not until the day I die.'**

**--**

Lani stirred in her sleep. She could feel something warm in her hand. She smiled as she opened her eyes. Without looking, she knew it was Richard's hand.

She turned to him. He was watching her intently.

'you're awake,' he said.

She nodded and felt around for her wound with her other hand. She frowned when she couldn't find it.

'you took me to the Temple, didn't you?' she asked.

'I did,' Richard said. 'or rather, we did. Camilla and I.'

'thank you,' she said. 'I assume you told the doctors about the no transfusion thing I have going on, right?' she asked.

'I did,' he said. 'I'm glad you're okay, Lani,' he kissed her hand.

She smiled at him. 'did you know my name isn't actually Noelani?'

'what?' he asked, surprised.

And she began to tell him her story.

--

_Kia opened her eyes to see a beautiful sandy beach and a blue ocean._

_Wait....she was alive?_

'_that was quite a storm you got yourself caught in,' a voice said._

_She turned her head to the side as she sat up. There was a man there._

'_you're lucky to be alive,' he continued._

'_who....who are you?' Kia asked._

'_my name is Jacob,' the man said. 'what is your name?'_

_Kia bit her lip. She didn't want her old life. She didn't want to be Kiana Kalani, the adulterous whore. _

'_I....my name is Kiana, but I don't know if I want to be known as that anymore,' she confessed. _

_The man smiled at her. 'well, what do you want be known as?' he asked._

_She thought for a moment. _

_After a minute, Kia smiled at him. _

'_call me Noelani.'_

_--_

**....yeah. A bit tripped out, wasn't it? So now you know who Kiana Kalani is. And you have a choice for next chapter's flashbacks. Laura or Izzie. Which one do you guys want to find out about more?**


	17. Better to Have Dreamed

**Hey! Here's the next chapter. It's a Laura centric. Enjoy!**

Three young women, identical women, walked down the docks, clad in black. The one in the middle, different only in her black hair, spoke.

'wreaking havoc on the Barracks,' she said in a cold voice. The voice was familiar.

'wait for it...' the blonde added. Three identical evil smirks were appearing on the three girls faces.

Behind the three girls, something exploded.

Part of the dock was burning, the flames licking at the wood.

'done,' the three girls said in unison, not looking back.

'next up,' the black haired girl said. 'killing Ben.'

Upon seeing the huge smiles on the other two girls' faces, the redhead rolled her eyes. 'Emmy, Josie,' she said. 'you two are _way _too excited about this whole killing thing.'

'Flick, do you remember?' the blonde asked. 'Goodwin? Rachel? Peter? Do you remember Corin?' she questioned.

The redhead nodded. 'yeah. Yeah, I do,' she turned to the girl with black hair. 'Let's go kill him for what he did to you, Emmeline.'

Hayden's eyes fluttered open, the vision still fresh in her mind as she sat up and smiled widely in realization.

Emmeline. Where had she heard that name? Emmeline. Emmeline.....

She smiled even wider when she realized that Emmeline was the third Morel, the only Morel who needed to get to the island for the destruction to begin.

The destruction of Ben.

'Hayden?' from next to her, Gus had woken up when she had sat up. 'you okay?'

She kissed him quickly. 'sorry if I woke you. I gotta go see Izzie,' she added as she got up and quickly put her shoes on.

'you do realize it's midnight, right?' Gus asked.

'knowing her, she's expecting me,' Hayden said as she ran out.

--

'what are you doing?' Laura asked, having just entered Jason's tent.

'trying to re-bandage my stab wound,' he said. he was standing there with the new bandage in his hand, trying to think of a way to do so without injuring himself more.

'give me that,' Laura said, taking the bandage from him. She began dressing his wounds. 'so you kissed me again,' she said lightly.

'I kissed you,' Jason said. 'and I plan to do it again and again. Okay?'

She smiled slightly. 'okay,' she said. she had almost finished with his wound. 'tape?' she said.

'next to my dog tags,' he told her.

She turned to pick up the tape and saw his dog tags, or rather the object on his dog tags.

She turned back to him with the tape and fixed up the dressing. 'so you have a wedding ring on your dog tags,' she said lightly.

A flicker of pain crossed his face. 'I do.'

'you're married?'

'I was,' he said softly. He reached over and picked up his dog tags and put them on. Laura looked at him carefully, analysing his reactions. He had obviously loved her, she could tell that. But he was pained by the fact that it was now a past tense. Laura quickly came to a conclusion.

She opened her mouth to ask, but someone interrupted them.

'Jason!'

Jason walked out of the tent to see Boone running towards him.

'what?' Jason asked him.

'it's Claire,' Boone said. 'she's back.'

Jason and Laura looked at each other before they ran off towards the caves.

--

_Laura was sitting at her new desk, at her new job. She was an Agent at the FBI. What she had strived to do for years. She was finally there._

_She didn't know that much about the other people on her team, just her immediate Boss. Special Agent Mark Williamson. She sat there for awhile before she heard four voices, three of them male the other female._

'_maybe we don't let you drive because you will kill us all one day, Walker,' the woman was saying._

'_as opposed to you, Poesy?' the man she was laughing at said. 'learn the road rules.'_

'_or maybe you both should just let me drive,' another voice suggested._

'_or all shut up and accept that I will drive to the crime scenes,' yet another voice said as they walked into the office that Laura was in, along with her boss._

'_hey boss,' the four voices chorused, going to their desks._

'_well, well, well,' a voice – the third voice that Laura had heard – said, looking at her. 'I guess you're the new agent,' he shook her hand as their boss left the room._

'_Laura Britt,' she said._

'_I'm Pete Wright,' he said. 'nice to meet you.'_

'_you too,' she smiled._

'_and I'm Trent Robinson,' another man said. the fourth man. 'these guys call me Rob.'_

'_Laura,' she said._

_The other man walked over to Laura and shook her hand._

'_nice to meet you Agent Britt,' he said. 'you ever need help, just ask me, I'm Special Agent Dylan Walker,' he introduced, winking at her. 'I'm the boss's right hand guy, so I know the ins and outs of the agency.'_

'_wow, very modest of you, Walker,' the woman said, walking over. 'you may be the right hand guy, but the rest of us have skills to rival yours.'_

'_like?' he challenged._

'_Pete is a computer whiz, Rob is an interrogator, Britt is-' she turned to Laura. 'what are you good at?'_

'_hand to hand,' Laura smiled._

'_which is also my area of expertise,' the woman said. 'I guess I'm gonna have to versus you one day. I'm Jennifer. Jennifer Poesy. And it's great to not be the only-' she turned to the men. 'what is it your lot say?'_

'_skirt,' Rob said._

'_right. It's great I'm not the only skirt in this team,' she turned back to Rob. 'I don't wear skirts, you know that. Nor do I wear dresses.'_

'_I've seen you in a dress,' Pete said._

'_that was an undercover mission, Pete,' she rolled her eyes. _

'_bet if he asked enough, Rob could get you to wear a skirt,' Dylan smirked. 'claim it was some sick little fantasy of his.'_

_Jenny turned and hit him hard on the shoulder. Laura watched the exchange in interest._

'_of course, we would all prefer you without the skirt,' he smirked. 'if you get what I mean.'_

_Rob moved towards Dylan. 'watch it,' he warned. 'that's my fiancée you're talking about.'_

'_Trent,' Jenny said softly, getting in between them and putting a hand on Rob's chest. She turned to Dylan. 'so you want to be close to me, do you, Dylan?' she stood right in front of him, close enough to be considered invading his personal space. Dylan smirked. Jenny tilted her head to the side and moved even closer._

_In two short seconds, Dylan was flat on his back, Jenny kneeling on his chest lightly. 'you pull the crap with me again, Walker, and you'll get more than the wind knocked out of you,' she said, standing up._

_Laura raised an eyebrow as their boss walked back in._

'_we got a case,' he said. 'Britt, you're driving.'_

_Laura couldn't help but smirk at the shocked expressions on her teams faces._

_--_

Hayden remained calm, and tried to change her memory of the vision so Emmeline, Flick and Josie were doing something good. Stopping a man from blowing up the dock. She knew that Izzie would take her hands and see what she saw, and from what she could tell, whatever you thought about when she did so, the future pertaining to it would be shown to her.

So she thought of the Morel's being good.

Izzie looked at her. 'are you sure?' she asked. Hayden nodded vigorously. 'I'm going to have to take your hands.'

Hayden nodded and let her.

Morel's being good....Morel's being good....Morel's being good....Morel's being good.....Morel's bein-

'don't lie to me, Hayden,' Izzie said, dropping her hands. 'however, you just showed me something interesting that pertains to the future of that vision. So thank you. I'll try and get Emmeline on the island.'

'okay,' Hayden nodded. 'thanks,' she said, walking to the door.

'and Hayden?' Izzie said. 'lie to me again about your vision, the next one you'll see will be me standing over a bloody body. _Your _bloody body.'

Hayden nodded and walked out.

--

'did you see Erica?' Eli and Luka asked in unison.

Aryel looked at them. 'boys, do you see Erica here?' she asked.

'no,' they said.

'well, then no! We didn't see her!' Aryel exclaimed.

Claire opened her eyes.

'hey,' Jack said to her.

Claire screamed and scrambled away from them.

'Claire? It's okay. It's okay,' Yoon said. 'just breathe, honey,' she said.

Claire looked at them all, freaking out.

'Who are you?' she asked Yoon. 'Who are you?'

They all looked at each other in shock.

'Who are you people?' she yelled.

'Claire!' Jason yelled, running in the caves, Laura and Boone right behind him.

Claire hugged him and clung to him like he was her last hope. 'who are these people, Jason?' she whispered.

'you don't remember?' he asked. 'you don't remember anything?'

She shook her head.

'fan-frickin'-tastic,' Aryel said.

'somebody hit her,' Jason said, looking over his shoulder.

He heard the sound of someone hitting her, but he didn't know who it was.

'hit me again, Maya, and I'll knock you down, okay?' Aryel said.

'what was the last thing you remember?' Yoon asked her softly.

'who are you?' Claire asked.

'my name is Yoon, Claire,' she said. 'what was the last thing you remember?'

'Um, I was on a plane flying to LA from Sydney,' she said.

They all looked at each other.

'what?' Claire asked.

'any of you can jump in at any time,' Yoon announced to the other survivors.

'Claire, we were all on that plane,' Laura said. 'It crashed here – on this island. That was almost a month ago.'

'no,' she said, her eyes widening. 'I'm....I'm due!' she exclaimed, putting a hand on her stomach.

'Claire,' Jason said calmly. 'your baby is fine. He's kicking, everything's normal. Okay?'

'Well, if it's been almost a month then why hasn't somebody come to get us?' she asked.

'we don't know,' Kate said.

'I mean,' Luka said. 'we could go out into the jungle and ask that traitorous bitch, Josephine, coz I'm sure she'll know.'

'who?' Claire asked.

--

Izzie looked across the Barracks at the cages. She watched Flick for a moment, in the cages. She could not believe the destruction that girl would cause. Or her cousins. They were going to be monsters.

'don't do anything stupid, Izzie,' Josh said, walking behind her.

'me?' she asked. 'name one stupid thing I've done in my life.'

'trying to figure out the Morel Phenomenon,' he said.

'okay, that's fair enough.'

'you shot me.'

'you know full well with my condition not to provoke me.'

'remember the sonar fence incident?'

'that was an accident. Doesn't count.'

'leaving this island.'

'I got a degree in psychology,' she said.

'and then didn't come back.'

'I fell in love,' she said.

'then why did you come back?' he asked a bit more harshly then he intended.

Izzie turned and looked at him. 'I fell out of love,' she said.

'of course you did.' Again, he had said it with more malice then was intended.

'look, you broke my heart all those years ago, Josh,' she said angrily. 'don't try to blame me for your mistake.'

'my mistake?' he asked.

'yeah, your mistake,' she said. she could feel herself losing control, but she couldn't stop it. 'now shut up and let me calm down before I hurt you.'

She put a hand to her head, and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

'sorry, Iz,' Josh muttered. 'I'll...just go,' he added.

'wait,' Izzie said, grabbing his hand. She smiled when she saw something in her mind, a vision. 'okay, I'm calm.'

'how did that- did you just see something?' he asked.

'the night before I left the Island for the first time,' Izzie said. 'every time I touch you I see that night, Josh. It calms me down.'

'you see it every single time? Why?'

'because you remember it all the time,' she told him. 'that's why.'

Josh looked at her in shock. He didn't realize that her visions of the past relied on what that person thought of most of the time. He would have to make sure that he tried not to think of Izzie and the time they had together years ago.

'I have to go,' Josh said. 'don't do anything stupid, Iz.'

--

'hey, Claire,' Laura said, sitting down next to Jason, Claire, Charlie, Aryel and Roxy. 'so I found your journal awhile back. It might help you remember,' she passed Claire the small book.

'we're...we're friends?' Claire asked.

'I'm Laura. Yeah, we're friends,' Laura said.

'although she's better friends with Jason,' Aryel smirked.

'piss off, Aryel,' Laura said, giving her a look.

'shouldn't sink to her level, luv,' Charlie said.

'don't call me luv,' Laura told him. she reached into the bag she had with her. 'so I was raiding Sawyer's tent, trying to find a book to read – he's still got some of your books, Aryel – and I came across tequila and some vodka. Pick your poison, baby,' she said to Roxy, holding out two different bottles. Roxy smiled and took the vodka bottle. Aryel reached over to take the tequila, but Laura pulled it back.

'you're being a bitch to me, so no,' Laura smirked. She turned to the others. 'Jason, you just had painkillers, somehow I don't think that would be good to have alcohol. Charlie, you called me luv, so no. Claire, you're pregnant, enough said.'

'new favourite person,' Roxy told her, opening the vodka bottle.

'let's take this party elsewhere,' Laura said, grabbing her bag as she stood up.

'you're oddly cheerful,' Charlie said.

'I have tequila, and I realized that I'm through with being the cold FBI agent,' she told them. 'I used to have a Hell of a lot of fun before I was an agent. So that's what I'm doing. Are you coming Roxy?'

'yeah,' Roxy said, jumping up.

'have fun,' Jason said sarcastically to Laura.

'you're bleeding again,' she told him coolly, looking at his stab wound. 'must have ripped a couple stitches in your mad dash here from the beach.'

He looked down at his chest at his dressed wound to see blood seeping through.

Claire gasped. 'what happened?'

'ahh, just an accident,' he said, taking off the dressing and ripping out the stitches that were there.

'ouch,' Aryel said dryly.

Laura and Roxy walked off as Jason reached into his bag and grabbed his suture kit and began working on his wound.

'Yoon!' Laura called out as she headed out of the caves. 'stitch up Jason's wound before he makes it worse!'

_--_

'tell me something, Matt,' Izzie said. 'if I told you to go past Ben and get someone onto this island, would you do it?'

Matt barely thought before answering. 'no.'

'why not?' she asked.

'because without his approval it might prove dangerous to us,' Matt said. 'you know that, you-'

'I am about as dangerous as they get,' she interrupted. 'I see the past, future, present when I touch someone; I see their hopes and fears. And that in itself is very dangerous. But I also have a disorder, a disorder which makes me want to kill people, a disorder which makes me lose control. So the most dangerous thing on this island is me at the moment.'

'no,' he said. 'the most dangerous thing on the island at the moment is Josephine Morel and Felicity Mercier.'

'and I want to fix that,' she said.

'who do you want to bring to the island?' he sighed.

'Emmeline Lefèvre,' she said.

Matt turned to her and gave her a stern look. 'you are not bringing the third Morel to the island without Ben's permission. Let's do a little math, Isobel. Island plus three Morel's equals total destruction. Isobel plus pissing off Ben equals dead Isobel. Times that by pissed off me plus angry Josh equals dead Matthew and dead Josh. Okay? So either talk to Ben – or even Kat or Richard – or you could get over it.'

'I'm going to go find Ben,' she said, walking out.

--

'can you help me up?' Lani asked Richard. Although her wound had been healed at the Temple she still had a huge bruise and she had a broken rib from when the bullet had lodged itself there. And she still moved as if she was recovering. Which she remembered that she was, Richard told her that enough.

He gently put his arm around her waist and helped her stand.

'you don't have to go and help Ethan,' he told her. She gasped slightly and grabbed her chest as she reached over to pick up her gun. 'is it your rib?' he asked.

'yeah,' she said. She put her gun at her waist. 'I'll be fine Richard. You worry too much,' she added. She walked out of the room in the Staff where she had been recovering to see Kat, Josie, Carlos, Esther and Ethan standing at the end of the hallway.

'I'm ready to go,' she told them.

Without looking over at her, and barely breaking the conversation they all spoke in unison. 'you're not going.'

'Josephine and I,' Kat said. 'we'll handle Yoon-Cha's child. The rest of you will get Claire. Understood?'

'understood,' Lani said, ignoring what they had said about her not going.

'and by the rest of you, I mean Ethan, Carlos and Esther,' Kat added. 'let's go.'

The group started walking out of the Staff, and Lani rushed to the front next to Kat.

'why?' Lani asked, clutching her rib in pain.

'that's why,' Kat said, looking pointedly at her hand over her rib. 'you're recovering-'

'from a wound that isn't even there,' Lani interrupted.

'and you'll slow us down,' Kat finished.

Lani glared at her.

'look, Noelani,' Kat sighed. She didn't notice Lani flinch slightly when her name was used. 'I'd be more than happy for you to come with us,' she lied. 'but, your doctor has to clear it first,' she added, shooting a look at Esther, warning her against saying Lani could.

Lani turned to Esther.

'I'm sorry, you can't,' Esther said immediately.

The group left and Lani leaned against the wall. Richard walked over to her, silently asking if she was okay.

'I'm just so tired,' she said. 'I'm going to go see Jacob,' she added.

'I think you should rest,' Richard told her.

'I think I should go see Jacob,' she countered.

'didn't you just do that?' he asked.

'no. I was heading there when I was shot. So I'm heading there now.'

'I'll walk you there,' he told her. He took her hand as they walked out. They started to walk through the jungle, neither of them talking.

They were so used to each other's company that there was really no need for words.

--

'just so you're aware,' Jason said through clenched teeth the next day. 'I will kill you with my bare hands.'

'Jason, calm down,' Jack said.

'The girl is very pregnant,' Sayid said calmly. 'Are we supposed to believe that she escaped from him?'

'please don't tell me you're getting at what I think you are,' Laura said.

'Ethan infiltrated us. Whoever he is and wherever he comes from, he's intelligent. Who's to say he didn't even send Claire?' Sayid questioned.

'That's a stretch,' Jack said.

'Then tell me, doctor, how many times have you diagnosed actual amnesia and such a selective brand of it?' Sayid questioned Jack.

Jack sighed. 'okay, it's rare.'

'but she's been through a major trauma,' Jason added.

'I've seen it,' Laura spoke up. 'one of my co-workers was in a hostage situation for a week. He then forgot everything about it afterwards.'

'It is possible that her memory reset to the crash,' Jack told Sayid and Locke.

'And the chances of that memory returning?' Locke asked.

'it is a possibility,' Jack told them.

'call me crazy,' Laura began. 'but while you guys argue about whether Claire is evil, I'm gonna actually go talk to her. I'm under the impression that she's upset.'

Laura turned and walked away.

'contrary to your beliefs,' Jason said to Sayid. 'Claire is a good person.'

He turned and followed Laura.

--

'_cannot believe we had to come to Sydney,' Laura said, driving a rental car._

'_believe it, honey,' Jenny said. It was now several years after they had met, and it was a well known fact in their team that if they had to pair up with a case, it was always Poesy and Britt. The two were closer than sisters and just knew each other's thoughts._

'_pull over here,' Jenny added._

'_why?'_

'_coffee,' she pointed to a café. _

'_arms dealer we have to catch, Jen,' Laura rolled her eyes. _

'_just got off a plane, Laura,' Jenny said. 'aren't you bloody tired? Worst flight ever.'_

'_I can guarantee you that you will have a worse one. Turbulence is a nightmare.'_

'_okay, so where are we going?' Jenny asked._

'_to where he apparently is. Now,' she turned her head and smiled at Jenny. 'Rob.'_

'_oh go away,' Jenny groaned. 'Trent and I are just friends.'_

_Laura raised an eyebrow. 'seriously? Because only his loved ones call him Trent,' she smirked._

'_I will murder you one day, Britt,' she said._

'_like to see you try,' she smiled. Jenny hit her lightly and Laura hit her back._

_The two friends smiled at each other._

_--_

'that girl is freaky,' Bracken said to Cam. 'usually I can handle freaky, but not this freaky.'

'it's not my problem, Hollister,' Cam said irritably. 'take it up with Kat.'

'yeah, you see, that's my problem. Kat is off stealing a baby, pretty sure Lani's with her, same with Richard, and let's face it: Ben's an ass. I need a new job.'

'okay, here's your options,' Cam sighed. 'stick with West-'

'no.'

'-or take a Morel.'

Bracken bit her lip. The Morel's were freakier than West. Cam knew that.

'I'll stick with West,' she told her.

'that's what I thought.'

--

'are you hiding out in here?' James asked, amused, as he looked at Yoon.

Yoon murmured in Korean to Min-Hee, before turning to James.

'according to them, I attacked Sammy for no reason,' Yoon said, in her native accent. 'they all stare at me, like....'

'you're the bad guy?' James asked.

'yeah,' she sighed.

He reached over and put his scarred hand in hers, comforting her.

Yoon looked at his hand, seeing how his burns had healed.

She let go of his hand and removed some of his bandages and she smiled, when she saw his burns were healing.

'I think you can finally get out of this tent,' she smiled at him.

He smiled back, but when she turned around he stopped.

--

'the baby,' Josie said. 'why are we taking her?'

'Yoon-Cha Gal is a bad person, Josephine,' Kat said. 'her daughter cannot be raised by her. Yoon-Cha will corrupt her. What Yoon-Cha's mother made her do, Yoon-Cha will do to her child. Min-Hee Harper is a cursed child.'

'then why are we bringing her in?'

'because she's cursed because her mother is who she is. Years ago, Eun Hee Gal, Yoon-Cha's mother, was in the Dharma Initiative. Only for a short while. Isobel's mother was a psychometric too, and told her that her child would be brought in the world for a bad reason. She told her that Eun Hee's grandchild would be brought into the world based on a lie. She said that Eun Hee's grandchild, if left with her mother, would one day cause the destruction of something – or someone – close to Isobel.'

'wait,' Josie said. 'Min-Hee is going to destroy something about Izzie?'

'if we don't take her from her mother.'

--

'hey, Scarlett,' Bracken smiled brightly – and falsely – to the teenager in front of her.

'you don't smile,' Scar said.

'neither do you,' Bracken pointed out, but regretted it immediately. They both could smile, but Bracken wasn't that type of person, and Scar... well, her face was so scarred that Scarlett attempting to smile turned into a part scowl, part grimace and part completely evil look. Her scars pulled each part of her mouth until it made you think it meant the exact opposite of what she did. She didn't show much emotion for that reason alone – her scars distorted her expressions.

Scar's lips curled up – Bracken couldn't tell whether she meant to smile or smirk or what. 'what do you want?'

'trade you your prisoner for mine,' she said.

'who do you have?' she asked in interest.

'West.'

'I'd rather stick with Aldwin. She's a little kid, a pain in my ass, but she's scared of me.'

'who does Renata have?'

'Murdock. And Josephine has her cousin, Kat has her sister, Esther has Fuller, Tom and Juliet have those kids, Emma and Zach, Josh has Hayden's brother and Cam and Lani have those other two from the front of the plane. Mellas and Mkhize. I'd go for one of them.'

'Cam won't let me change prisoner. She said West or Morel. You can guess what I picked.'

'yeah, well Morel's are supposed to bring about the destruction of this island. I don't know why they weren't killed years ago. It would have been so easy when they were just children, babies. They could've made it look like an accident.'

'wow,' Rachel said from behind her. 'you're even more twisted than I give you credit for.'

--

'you know there's a thing called calming down,' Laura said. Jason gave her an angry look. 'you may want to try it, that's all,' she suggested.

'bloody idiots,' Jason muttered before muttering again in a language Laura didn't know.

'are you speaking Arabic?' she asked.

'I picked up a bit of it in Iraq,' he explained.

'calm down,' she said again, smiling at him.

'don't smile,' he said. 'it makes it damn hard to be angry.'

Her grin grew wider.

He continued to try to glare at her.

Finally he stopped glaring and grudgingly smiled.

'bloody Hell woman, you really know how to make someone want to shoot you,' he told her.

'oh? So you don't want to kiss me this time?' she asked, a smirk playing at her lips.

Jason smiled but abruptly stopped when he heard a sound. He looked at Laura.

'what's-' she began, but he put his hand over her mouth.

Suddenly the sound became even faster and a rock came out of nowhere, hitting Laura in the chest, making her fall to the ground.

Jason bent down to her and looked around.

Suddenly he saw Ethan.

'Jason, I want her back,' he said.

'when Hell freezes over,' Jason snarled. 'multiple times!'

'You bring her here. If you don't, I'm going to kill one of them. And then, if you don't bring her back before sundown tomorrow, I'll kill another, and another, and another. One every day. And Jason... I'll kill your friend here and then you last,' he said.

Jason heard whispers and looked around before looking back to Ethan.

But he was no longer there.

--

_Laura and Jenny got out of their car and walked towards the building where Dennison Copeland was staying. It was an old warehouse, the windows broken, all run down._

_The two exchanged a look and started walking around to the door._

_On the way they passed a dumpster. _

_Jenny gasped when she saw something. _

_On the other side of the dumpster was a rotting body. The eyes were gone, probably pecked out and the flesh had been partly eaten by rodents._

_Jenny leant down and turned over the body so they could see him._

_Laura took out a picture from her pocket._

_It was Dennison Copeland._

_Their one lead. Their one lead was dead._

_Laura and Jenny exchanged a look._

_They had never been as disappointed as they were right now._

_--_

'I vote for killing him,' Yoon said, holding her baby close to her.

'so do I,' Laura said.

'me too,' Jason told them.

'we're not savages!' Roxy exclaimed. 'we can't kill people!'

'Roxanne,' Laura said. 'if this talk makes you feel uncomfortable, you should walk away now.'

Roxanne turned in a huff and walked away.

'they're right,' Charlie nodded. 'we go out and we bloody kill him!'

'calm down, Charlie,' Locke said. 'we shouldn't-'

'I think he's right. The man threatens to kill one of us unless we bring him Claire, and what, we just wait for that to happen? We tracked him once before, we can track him again,' Jack said.

'you all seem to have forgotten how that turned out. Max was knocked out, Jason, you were stabbed, Erica and Claire are still out there, Charlie was hung from a tree and Jenny....was killed,' he added, looking quickly at Laura. She remained stony faced. 'Running into the jungle unarmed is not going to get the job done.'

'So what does get it done?' Charlie asked.

'We tell a select few about the threat. We post some sentries here and back at the caves.'

'only a few?' Yoon asked. 'you give me a knife and I'll go in that jungle and he'll be dead.'

'He does what he says he going to do and that blood's on our hands,' Jack said, ignoring the last part of what Yoon had said.

'Okay, Jack, we tell everyone. But, you want to protect them, you need to start thinking defence,' Locke said.

'We move everybody off the beach, back up into the caves,' Jack agreed.

'What if Ethan isn't alone? What if he delivered his threat so that we would gather like sheep to the slaughter in a confined space where they can roll in and take us all in one fell swoop?' Locke asked.

'he's right,' Yoon nodded.

'Okay, then. Obviously, you two have a plan. So, let's hear it,' Laura said.

--

Lani hesitantly walked into the four toed statue. She walked into the main chamber and stopped in the doorway. She watched as the man cooked some kind of fish on a small fire, his back to her.

'I didn't expect you to be back this soon,' he said, not turning around.

'I wanted to thank you,' she said softly. 'thank you so much for lying to me.'

'Noelani-' he began, thinking she was be sarcastic, thinking that she meant the complete opposite.

'no, really Jacob. I now know why you lied to me, I know why you didn't tell me about Kiana Kalei.'

'you were broken when you first came here, Lani. You asked me a number of times to kill you, you asked me to end it for you. So I knew I could never tell you your life. Until you begged, until you asked.'

'I know. But...'

'what is it?'

'where is Maleko buried? Where is my son buried?' she questioned.

Jacob finally turned and looked at his old friend. 'outside the Lighthouse. It was his favourite place.'

'thank you,' she said as she walked back to the entrance.

'I hope you find what you are looking for,' Jacob told her.

--

'Some of the men have volunteered for sentry duty. I'm going to put them on rotating shifts,' Sayid informed Locke and Boone.

'just men?' Aryel challenged.

Boone rolled his eyes. 'would you like to take a shift, Aryel?' he asked.

'thanks for the offer, Boone!' she exclaimed in a sarcastic voice. 'yeah, I will.'

'okay then,' Sayid said.

--

'you need to leave this tent, James,' Yoon said patiently.

'I can't. I've been in here for two and a half weeks. No one out there knows me Yoon,' he said. 'only you do.'

'no time like the present to start, hey?' she said.

He just gave her a look.

--

Esther stared through the trees, watching.

She slid her knife out of its sheath.

Ethan pushed it back in her sheath.

'no blood spilled,' he hissed in her ear. To anyone else, his words may have sounded angry, but Ethan's hand brushed hers, in a comforting gesture, and she knew he wasn't angry.

'who's that?' Carlos whispered, nodding towards a man walking across the beach.

'Steve, Scott,' Esther said. 'Ethan and Josie were arguing about what his name was. Scott or Steve.'

'let's go,' Ethan said to them.

Esther followed him to the water's edge.

Carlos quickly drew a cross sign in the air, muttered something along the lines of "forgive me God", and followed them regrettably.

--

The next morning, someone screamed.

Boone and Aryel jumped up, alert, and ran to the sound.

A group was forming, a group that had a body in the middle of them.

Aryel realized it was that guy, the one she didn't know his name, only that it started with S.

Sammy?

'how the Hell did he get past you?' a man asked.

Wait, that was Sammy, Aryel realized.

Sayid? No... Sayid was the Iraqi.

Was definitely not Sawyer...who the Hell was it? Aryel didn't want to ask, because then they might think she's heartless – well, she knew she was, but that wasn't the point.

Steve! It was definitely Steve.

'his necks broken,' Yoon announced. 'his arms too. His legs. His spine. His feet, all the bones in his fingers-'

'that's a nice picture you're painting dude, but please stop,' Hurley interrupted.

'So, Steve drew the short straw,' Sawyer said.

'Dude, that was Scott,' Hurley told him, as everyone walked away.

'wait...' Aryel said to Sawyer. 'really? I totally thought it was Steve, too.'

--

Izzie walked into one of the houses to see Erica and Bracken sitting across each other at a table, staring at each other.

'umm...yeah, hi?' Izzie said, slightly uncomfortable with the whole no blinking thing they had going on.

Erica looked at her. 'hi,' she said.

'I'm Izzie,' she introduced herself.

'guess you know who I am,' Erica said bitterly.

'yes, I do, Erica,' Izzie said. 'you're the best thing to happen to this Island in a long time.'

'how do you figure that?' she asked.

'Hollister,' Izzie said calmly to Bracken. 'why are you still here?'

'say no more,' Bracken said, walking out.

Izzie waited before she was gone before sitting in front of Erica. Erica involuntary shivered.

'all my life, Erica, I've been able to touch people, and know stuff about them. Past, present, future. But you... have you ever just had a feeling that someone was a bad person? Or that someone was a good person?'

Erica bit her lip, thinking about the pros and cons of telling Izzie. Finally, curiosity won over. 'Deniz Sahin,' she said. 'one of the survivors.'

'good or bad?'

'bad,' Erica said. 'you...you're bad too.'

'I know,' Izzie nodded.

'but...you're not as bad as Deniz. Or Yoon. She's dangerous.'

'I'm just manipulative. Yoon-Cha's a murderer. Deniz will cause your death.'

'what?' Erica's eyes widened in shock.

'here's the catch,' Izzie said. 'Deniz Sahin will cause you're death, if she is not protected. Yet you're the only one who can protect her sufficiently. It's a horrible cycle. If you don't protect her enough, she will die. But if you protect her too much, you will die. Take your pick.'

Erica stared at her.

'the future of this island is seen by me,' Izzie said. 'and I see that the island can be destroyed by three people. And the only three that can save it from them, if they let hatred take hold, is Deniz Sahin, Min-Hee Harper, and you, Erica West.'

--

'this is our fault,' Laura said in a hushed voice, dropping down into the sand next to Jason.

'what, you think we should've given her to him?' he challenged angrily.

'stop trying to pick a fight,' she hissed. 'I'm saying we should've gone out and killed him before he got to any of us.'

'yeah, well-'

'Why? Why did you lie to me?' a voice asked.

'have fun,' Laura said, getting up.

'no, you're staying for this!' Claire exclaimed.

Laura dropped to the ground again.

'why would you lie to me, Jason?' Claire asked.

'well, you're just not seeing the bigger picture,' Jason said calmly. 'technically, I didn't lie to you. I just bent the truth-'

Claire hit his arm.

'calm down,' Jason said. 'you don't get it-'

'what is there to get? You lied to me!'

'yeah...I can just go...' Laura said, standing up.

'sit down!' they both exclaimed.

'or I can stay,' she muttered, sitting down again.

'seriously Claire, you asked if everything was okay, and I said yes, because it is, you're back. I didn't lie about that,' Jason said. 'I just-' he searched for something to say.

'-thought with your memory there wasn't anything you could do,' Laura supplied.

'Nothing I could do? Why would you want to keep me in the dark? I'm already in the dark,' Claire said.

'we wanted to protect you,' the two of them said. The two of them looked at each other, slightly surprised that it had gone from Jason, to both of them in a matter of seconds.

'I don't need your protection,' Claire said, before walking off.

--

Later, Laura pulled Jason back.

'seriously, Jason,' she hissed. 'we don't want to start every one of these conversations with you attacking someone or a threat, okay?' she turned to Jack. 'but more to the point: are you insane?'

'It's the best chance we have,' Jack told them.

'If you want to capture Ethan, we have to ensnare him. And the only way do that is by giving him what he wants,' Sayid said.

'you have no bloody idea what the Hell you are all talking about,' Laura said. 'he will kill you all,' her eyes flitted over to the graveyard, where her friend lay.

'I can talk for myself,' Claire said, walking over.

'they want to use you as bait!' Jason, Laura, Roxy and Charlie all yelled.

'I don't remember Ethan,' Claire said.

'well, let me give you a little history lesson, okay?' Laura said. 'Ethan kidnapped you, Erica, Jason, Max, Charlie and Jenny. Erica's still missing, Max has a nasty bruise on his head, Jason-' she turned and ripped his bandage open. '-nice little stab wound there, Charlie-' she pulled his collar down. '-beautiful bruises from being hung, and Jenny-' she turned Claire to the direction of the graveyard. '-there she is, six feet under, dead. You remember now?' she asked.

'calm down,' Jason said.

'no,' Claire said. 'I don't. I don't remember what he did to me. But if I can help stop him from hurting anyone else, I have to do that.'

To his credit, Jason slowly nodded.

'who's coming?' Jason asked.

'Sayid, Locke, Sawyer, Aryel and me,' Jack said.

'count me in,' Jason said, taking a gun from the back of his jeans.

'me too,' Laura said.

'I want to come,' Kate said.

'Sorry, we're out of guns. And no one goes out there unarmed,' Jack said.

Laura passed her gun to Kate and turned around. 'Yoon!' she yelled.

Yoon turned to her questionably, just before she entered the medical tent.

'nine mil.' She yelled.

Yoon sighed and took a gun from the back of her pants before throwing it at Laura. Normally she would go on a mission with guns, but she was a woman on a mission.

Jason caught it. 'don't throw guns,' he said seriously.

'safety was on,' she told him, snatching it out of his hand.

--

Sayid looked at Claire.

'He'll be surrounded at eight points. Everyone will be in visual contact with you. Make sure you stay in the area I've shown you. And remember, guns are a measure of the last resort. We want him alive,' he said.

'speak for yourself,' Jason muttered, cocking his gun.

--

Claire slowly walked through the jungle.

She shivered and looked over her shoulder.

Ethan was there.

She screamed and started running, Ethan running after her.

Jason tackled Ethan to the ground, and Claire stopped turning around. Jason punched Ethan, who hit him straight back.

The two started fighting, and Laura ran up to Claire. 'you okay?'

'yeah,' Claire nodded.

Jason got up off Ethan, who had blood down his face.

'Winner by a knockout. Nice one, Doc. Now, maybe somebody can tell me just who or what this son of bitch is,' Sawyer said. Ethan began to get up and everyone pointed their guns at him. 'Uh, uh, uh, jungle boy. Not even for one second.'

Suddenly Ethan was shot six times, from two different people. They hadn't even planned it, their anger was so overwhelming, they each had to do it.

Ethan fell to the ground, dead.

--

Up in a tree, Carlos put his hand over Esther's mouth and held her in the tree. He knew if he let go of her, she would make a sound, or she would jump down and kill them all.

Carlos wrapped his arms around her as she silently cried for her lost love.

As she silently cried for Ethan.

--

Laura lowered her gun.

'that was for Jenny,' she said coldly.

Jason lowered his gun too, and turned to Claire.

She moved forward and hugged him.

--

Lani walked up to the tall lighthouse. She had been there many years since she lost her memory, but she had never questioned whose grave it was sitting at the foot of the lighthouse. She had assumed it was one of the people who were here before her, and she had never asked.

But now she knew the truth.

Now she knew that her son was lying under the earth, probably a skeleton by now.

She sat down next to the grave and looked at it.

She didn't feel anything.

--

'why'd you shoot?' Jason asked, breaking the silence between them.

'why'd you?' Laura shot back.

'because he deserved to die. I wasn't going to let him hurt her again.'

'because he's the reason my best friend is dead,' Laura told him.

Jason leaned over and put his arm around her.

--

'we're aborting,' Carlos informed Kat and Josie as he walked back into the clearing, Esther silent by his side.

'why?' Kat asked.

'because Ethan's dead,' Carlos said.

Kat looked at Esther, almost pityingly.

She then led them back to the Barracks, wondering how the reactions there would be.

--

**Los Angeles**

Devika walked down a hallway, and entered the room without knocking. There were two people in the room, her employer, and a man hidden in the shadows.

'I have a freighter, Devika,' her employer said. 'I need certain people on it,' he passed her the list.

She murmured some of the names as she read it. 'Faraday... Kalani... Lefèvre... Straume... Dorrit... Swan... Terry...' she continued on for a minute before seeing her own name. 'and you want me on it, sir?'

'I do, Devika,' he said. 'but firstly, I would like you to recruit these people.'

Devika raised an eyebrow. 'of course,' she said.

'you have a partner in this, of course,' he said. He waved the man forward. 'I believe you know each other.'

The man walked out of the shadows, and Devika somehow maintained a neutral expression. The last time she had seen him, his dark brown eyes had been shocked, contemplating the death coming to him. He had been blood smeared, and going pale.

And now he was completely healthy, a smirk playing at his lips, knowing her shock, though it wasn't seen.

'we do,' Devika said.

'well then,' Adem smiled widely. 'this is going to be fun.'

--

**So Devika and Adem are working together...how fun will this be? And Jenny was back in this chapter, albeit only in flashbacks. Erica's special. And Deniz is bad, which is actually a surprise.**

**Oh, and I've come off hiatus from Stranded in the Middle of Nowhere, and if you guys want (I'm desperate!) go check out chapter 60, I need OCs in the other timeline. **

**And just read my season 6 chapter in it too. :)**

**And review this, of course. :)**


	18. Beautiful Simplicity

**Here's the next chapter! It's an Izzie centric. Enjoy!**

Izzie was sitting in a chair out the front of her home, her knees held close to her chest. Tears were down her cheeks.

Matt walked out of the house, and saw her. He knelt down next to her and wiped away her tears.

She showed him her gloved hands and started signing to him. 'They're horrible people, these survivors.'

Matt nodded in understanding and started signing back. 'Ethan?'

'How can they just kill someone, for wanting them safe? For a better life?' she signed. She was fully aware that they could just talk, but she had always maintained that when they were the only one's there that she had to sign like him, so she knew how he struggled to understand people day by day.

'They don't know any better,' he signed.

'They should.'

--

Josie casually walked across the Barracks, a cigarette in her hand. She took a drag of it as she passed the cages.

'Josie,' Flick said. Josie stopped and turned, blowing the cigarette smoke in Flick's face.

Flick smiled and put her hand through the bars and took the cigarette from her.

'You smoke too?' Josie asked.

'Obviously,' she rolled her eyes as she took a drag. 'Where do you guys get cigarettes from, anyway?'

'Don't know,' she shrugged, getting out another cigarette and lighting it.

'Why are you talking to her?' Nemo hissed at Flick.

'oh, keep your head on,' she rolled her eyes. 'Josie's cool.'

'why thank you, Flick,' Josie smiled.

'Josephine, you're going to kill yourself via smoking,' Kat said, walking over with Erica.

'Josie?' Erica asked in surprise.

'you want to open this cage for me?' Kat asked Josie. Josie took out her keys and unlocked the cage.

'don't try to attack,' Josie said calmly to the people in the cage, taking a gun out. 'I'll blow out your damn knee if you do.'

Flick smirked. 'impressive threat,' she muttered.

Josie smirked back as Kat put Erica in the cage.

'Josie, what are you doing here?' Erica asked her.

'sorry, Erica,' Josie said, closing the cage. 'I'm one of them.'

Erica looked at her, shock and betrayal in her eyes.

--

'so, drinking game, anyone?' Laura asked, sitting down next to Claire, Charlie, Jason, Aryel and Roxy.

Jason, Charlie, Roxy and Aryel reached forward and took a bottle.

Laura passed Claire a bottle of water. 'this is for you,' she told her.

'are you like an alcoholic, or something?' Aryel wondered.

Laura shook her head. 'I just haven't drunk in awhile. Years, actually.'

'well bottoms up, baby,' Roxy said.

--

Esther was in the infirmary, cleaning out the graze that Molly had from when she tripped over.

Cam walked in.

'why are you working?' she demanded.

'good morning Camilla, how are you?' Esther said.

'you're...boyfriend, or whatever, just died, so Ben, Kat, Lani, Richard, Hell everyone, we don't want you working.'

'I'm fine,' Esther said. she turned to Molly. 'there you go, sweetheart,' she said. 'you were very brave.'

Cam put her hand on Molly's back as she led her out. She looked back at Esther.

'I'm fine.'

--

'what is he doing?' Eli wondered, amused at Sawyer.

Michelle, from next to him, wrote on her notepad. Boar took his tent. He has some vendetta against it now.

'that's crazy,' Eli said.

Michelle thought about how she had only spoken once since the crash, apart from calling out to Liliana, and she smiled bitterly.

Sometime's people do crazy things for crazy reasons, she wrote.

--

'this is crazy,' Yoon said, holding Min-Hee close to her. 'you're scared of what's outside this tent.'

'so?' James said stubbornly. 'you're scared of what they think of you. If I leave this tent, you will have nowhere to hide.'

'I'll find somewhere,' Yoon said. 'you on the other hand, I think you're afraid of someone recognizing you for a reason you don't know.'

'I don't really trust well,' he shrugged. 'but for some reason I trust you. The one person I shouldn't trust on this island, and I trust you.'

Yoon knew what he was talking about. She knew he was talking about the whole born to be a spy thing, the betrayal thing, the killing the Marshal thing, her whole life.

She nodded. 'well I don't trust anyone, so at least you've made progress.'

'I'm not going out there, Yoon. Not yet.'

'does that mean you will soon?' she questioned.

He didn't answer, he just looked away.

--

Hayden rushed across the Barracks, to the cages. Josie was standing there, talking to some of the prisoners.

'hello, my favourite sister,' Dom said to Hayden.

'I'm your only sister,' Hayden said dismissively. 'Josie, I need your help.'

'kind of busy here,' Josie said, taking a drag of the cigarette in her hands.

Hayden snatched the cigarette out of her hand and dropped it, stepping on it.

'hey!' Josie exclaimed.

'I'm sorry, sweetie,' Hayden said. 'but I need your help right now.'

Dom looked at her in concern. 'you okay?'

'just peachy,' she said.

'is this about the Morel Phenomenon?' Josie asked. Eva and Flick looked at her.

'depends. There's two things, one's more important than the other. The least important is about Emmeline Lefèvre, but we can deal with that later. Right now though...' she bit her lip, aware of the prisoners listening in. 'we got to save Peter.'

'what?' Josie asked.

Hayden spoke, very fast. 'I saw him-'

'you're blind,' Josie said.

'thank you, Captain Obvious,' Hayden snapped. 'in my dreams, Morel. We got to save Rachel and Peter.'

'what's going on?' Josie asked.

'okay, I had a dream,' Hayden led her away from the cages. 'you, Felicity and Emmeline are going to try to kill someone, and it's mentioned that something happened to Rachel and Peter. We gotta save them, somehow.'

'let's review,' Josie said. 'we have to save them, from something that we don't know will happen, and we gotta do it at a time we don't know?'

'yes,' Hayden said, as if it was normal.

'this will be fun, then,' Josie said.

--

_Izzie watched, mesmerized. She watched her brother's hands fly across the piano, and she couldn't believe how in sync he was with the girl singing. After all this time, all these years with her brother, she still couldn't understand how he was a gifted pianist when he couldn't hear, and had never heard a sound in his life. _

_Izzie turned at the sound of the door opening and Richard walked in._

_'Isobel, I just got back from the Mainland, and these letters were at our post office box, for your brother and you,' Richard said, handing her two envelopes. Stanford University, it read. Izzie smiled._

_'Thanks, Richard,' she said as he left. 'Stop!' she called out to the girl sitting with her brother. The girl obliged and turned, but her brother kept playing. The girl stood up and left, seeing the expression on Izzie's face._

_Izzie walked over and waved her hands in front of Matt's face, before signing so he could play at the same time._

_'we got mail,' she signed._

_'really?' he asked out loud._

_'from Stanford,' she signed. _

_Matt abruptly stopped playing and turned to her. she passed him his letter and opened her own, scanning it._

_'accepted,' Matt said. 'you?'_

_'accepted,' she smiled brightly._

_Matt hugged Izzie tightly and they both smiled. College. A college in the outside world._

_They couldn't wait._

--

Esther was going through the medical files they had on the survivors, reading her sister's file.

Juliet walked in.

'hey,' she said. 'why are you working?'

'because I'm fine,' Esther said.

Juliet raised an eyebrow.

'I. Am. Fine.'

--

'never played it,' Roxy said.

'I never?' Jason said. 'seriously?'

'learn by example,' Aryel said. 'I never kissed a girl. And now Jason drinks, coz he has.'

Jason drank from his bottle, and surprisingly, so did Roxy.

They all looked at her. 'college,' she shrugged.

'I never been pregnant,' Aryel said, looking pointedly at Claire.

Claire smiled and drank her water. Roxy took a small drink from her bottle.

'miscarried,' she said to the surprised look.

'I never been in jail,' Claire said.

Aryel took a drink. 'assault,' she said.

Roxy took a really long drink. 'trespassing, vandalism, a bunch of stuff to go with protesting.'

Jason took a drink. 'assault, vandalism,' he said.

'I never had a one night stand,' Roxy said.

Laura took a drink, as did Aryel.

'I never used illegal drugs,' Jason said.

Laura and Aryel took a drink.

'I never ran away from home,' Claire said.

Jason, Aryel and Roxy took a drink.

'I never been in hospital for longer than a day,' Laura said.

Jason took a drink. 'Iraq,' he said in explanation.

'OD,' Aryel said, taking a drink.

Roxy took a long drink, and they looked at her. 'I was in there for seven months as a kid.'

'why?' Claire asked.

'I had cancer. Just went in remission two years ago,' she said.

'I never been in love,' Laura said.

Claire, Jason and Roxy took a drink.

'I never been married,' Aryel said.

Jason took a drink, not looking at any of them.

'you were married?' Roxy asked. 'for how-'

'I never hated someone,' Claire interrupted.

Jason threw her a grateful look, as Aryel drank a lot and Roxy took a quick sip.

'I never killed a man,' Aryel said casually, as if she didn't know that two of the people in the group had.

Laura and Jason exchanged a look and took a drink.

--

Lucy was lying on a towel on the beach, mesmerized in a book.

'what are you reading?' Oz asked, sitting down next to her, offering a bottle of water.

'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,' she said. 'it's a really good book. What if there's actually a way to get to another world? What if we are in another world?'

Oz smiled at her excitement. 'somehow I doubt that, Luce.'

--

Michelle was helping bind together two logs on the raft. She sighed and watched as Jin started yelling at Sun. A man should not treat his wife like that. Actually, no one should treat anyone else like that.

'there they go again,' Max sighed.

'Do you think we should do something?' Eli said.

'what could we possibly do?' Charlie asked.

'we could unleash the monster,' Sammy said.

'you mean...?' Charlie trailed off, thinking of the monster he had heard about in the jungle.

'he's talking about me,' Yoon snapped, from behind them. 'would one of you hold my daughter while I go scream at Jin?' she asked sweetly.

Michelle bit back a laugh and nodded at her. Yoon passed Min-Hee to her.

Yoon started walking to Jin and Sun, but Michael beat her there.

'get your hands off of her, man!' Michael yelled at Jin.

'Michael, stay out of this,' Yoon said. she knew how dangerous Jin could be.

'I swear to god, you put your hands on her one more time...' Michael trailed off to Jin. Jin started yelling in Korean.

Sun stepped in and slapped Michael, who looked stunned. Sun walked away with Jin.

Yoon turned to Michael. 'you brought that on yourself,' she said, before walking back and taking her daughter from Michelle. 'gamsahamnida,' she said.

--

Esther sighed as yet another person entered her office.

'I'm fine,' she said, not turning around.

'that's great,' Bracken said. 'now, I have a burn,' she said. 'you wanna fix it, or you wanna go on about how you're fine?'

Esther smiled slightly and turned around, starting to talk to Bracken.

--

Later, Yoon was lounging in the sand next to the raft, her eyes closed, holding her daughter to her chest.

She heard Sun walk up to the raft, where only Michael was.

'Michael? I'm sorry,' Sun said.

Yoon cracked open an eye, intrigued. Michael looked at her.

'don't worry, Mikey,' Yoon said. 'I know she speaks English.'

'Don't worry. I stuck my nose where it didn't belong. It's on me,' Michael said to Sun.

'When I slapped you I was protecting you,' Sun told him.

'Oh, yeah? From what?' Michael asked sceptically.

'From Jin. You don't know what he's capable of.'

'it ain't his problem, Sun,' Yoon said. 'now if you don't mind, while you guys continue on with today's soap opera drama, I'm going.'

--

A group had formed a good hundred feet away from the infirmary, sending in one person after another to talk to Esther.

Bracken walked out of the infirmary, and over to them.

'you're right, she's not fine,' Bracken said.

Juliet bit her lip and turned to Alex. 'go get Gus or Izzie, just one of the psychologists.'

--

'so,' Deniz sat down next to Lucy, the small wooden box in her hands. 'I think I figured it out,' she said.

'oh yeah?' Lucy said, sitting up and closing her book.

'yeah,' Deniz nodded vigorously. 'I think Kiana Kalei is one of them.'

'one of the people who took Erica?' Lucy asked.

Deniz nodded.

'it's possible,' Lucy said.

--

Jack walked over to Michael, at the raft.

'you're making a lot of progress,' he said.

'Yeah, trying,' Michael told him.

'I thought I'd give you the heads-up,' Jack said. 'there's a lot of talk going on about who's going on this thing with you.'

'well, I've only got room for six people. There's one spot open,' Michael said.

'wasn't there two spots, like half an hour ago?' Yoon asked, having just walked over.

'this is going to be fun,' Sammy said from behind her.

Yoon whirled on Michael. 'you're fucking kidding me, Michael!' she exclaimed.

'hey, I don't know what went down between you two, but he bought his spot, just like you did,' Michael said.

'you don't have a right to speak to me at all, got it?' Yoon said to Sammy.

'Yoon-' Jack said tiredly.

'got it,' Sammy nodded. He understood her anger at him; he understood how much she was hurting.

Yoon turned and left for the medical tent.

Jack sighed and turned to Michael. 'who got the other spot?'

'Luka,' Michael said. when Jack looked surprised, he continued. 'look, I know he's still a kid, but he needs something to take him off Josefina, he wants to go in there and kill her, and it's better if he doesn't, right? She's some kind of jungle woman, and it'd be better if he didn't get himself into that mess.'

--

Alex returned with Gus a good twenty minutes later.

'what took you so long?' Bracken asked.

'I went to find Izzie, but she's dealing with her grief, unlike Esther,' Alex said. 'I then found Gus.'

'how bad is she?' Gus asked.

'she's in denial,' Juliet told him.

--

Esther sighed as her door opened again, and she turned around.

'seriously guys, I'm fi- they sent the damn psychologist?!' she shrieked.

'hey, Esther,' Gus said, sitting down.

'I am fine! Why won't anyone get that?' she asked.

'because you're not fine,' he said calmly. 'you have just suffered a loss that no one should have to feel.'

'I am fine.'

'Esther, I for one know what you're going through,' he said.

Esther turned around and looked at him. 'you do?'

'I do,' he nodded. 'I was once married, but she died. She was shot.'

Esther tilted her head to the side. 'what was her name?'

'Caitrin,' he smiled at the memory.

'was it an accident?' Esther asked.

'no. A woman planned to kill her,' he said sadly. 'my point is, you need to grieve. It took me a long time to grieve for her. I was in denial. I don't want to see you go through what I did. you don't deserve it. Yes, it hurts, and yes, you don't want to admit it does, because the reality is brutal, Esther: he's gone. You love Ethan, but he's gone, and you don't want to deal with it. So you're bottling up your feelings. And soon you will explode with grief. Once you don't have something to do, once you stop working, once you face the reality. It will hurt, yes. But in the end, you have to hurt in order to grow. In the end it's simple: you loved him, and a part of you will always love Ethan, but you need to move on in the end. I'm not saying now, God no, but soon enough...you will find someone to help ease the pain, to help you move on. I'm not saying now - it could be a month, a year, two years, ten years. But no matter what, you will get past this, you will love again. But you will always love the one who is gone.'

Esther bit her lip. 'how long did it take you to get past it?'

'I don't think I am yet,' he confessed. 'But I learnt to love again with Hayden, she helped me more than I helped her. Hayden was about as broken as I was when I met her, but I won't go into that, it's not my story to tell.'

'so...I can love someone without getting past Ethan?' she asked.

'I believe you can,' Gus said. 'and as long as you believe it too, who's to say it won't happen?'

Esther smiled weakly and swallowed back tears. 'what if I can't get past it?' she whispered.

'You can do this,' Gus said. 'I know you can.'

Esther stood up and gave a quick hug to Gus. 'could...could you get Juliet or someone else to cover for me? I'm going home,' she said.

Gus smiled. 'of course.'

--

Josh watched Izzie sit on her front porch, having been sitting there all day. He frowned.

Matt walked past Josh, and Josh caught his arm.

Matt turned to him, and Josh nodded his head towards Izzie, questionably.

'Ethan,' Matt said.

Josh nodded and walked over to Izzie, standing in front of her.

'oh, go away,' she said, wiping at the tears on her face.

He took her hand. 'come on,' he said softly. He looked at her hands, and was shocked to see that she was wearing gloves.

'what's with the gloves?' he asked.

'I don't want to feel like the rest of you for today,' she said.

She made no move to stand up. 'come on,' he repeated. 'we're going for a walk.'

Izzie sighed and stood up with him.

--

_Izzie nervously paced up and down in front of Josh._

_'seriously, Iz,' he sighed after a few minutes. 'what's going on?'_

_'I got accepted into Stanford,' she said. 'so did Matt.'_

_Josh smiled. 'congratulations,' he said._

_'I'm leaving in two months, Josh,' she said. 'I'm leaving the Island.'_

_'that would be fun,' he agreed._

_'Joshua,' she said. 'I'm leaving the Island,' she repeated. 'I'm going away. you're staying here.'_

_Josh blinked. 'right...I knew that.'_

_The two stood there looking at each other before Josh hugged her and Izzie bit her tongue, to keep from yelling at him about what he would do. _

_'I knew you'd get in, Iz,' he whispered._

--

She awoke to the smell of something burning. She hoped it was just her mind playing tricks on her, because she couldn't deal with anymore drama.

Michelle sat up and looked around. The raft was on fire.

She pushed herself up off the ground and ran over there, hoping the damage wasn't irreparable.

--

'it was him, wasn't it?' Deniz asked.

'who?' Maya asked her.

'Jin,' Lucy said matter-of-factly.

'We don't know that,' Oz said.

Maya met his eyes over the girl's heads.

They both thought it was.

--

The next morning, Jin put his hand in a river, relieving the pain of the burn.

'Oi!' Sammy yelled. 'you ruined my ride!'

--

Luka walked aimlessly around the jungle, as he had been doing since he woke up. He couldn't believe the raft had been burnt. Now he had to stay on this Hell hole.

He heard a sound in the trees to the side of him and slowly walked closer, looking through the trees.

It was Josie, walking around the jungle like he was.

He slowly moved through the trees, going back. He didn't really want to confront her now.

He made a sudden movement and a bird flew out of the tree next to him.

Josie turned suddenly, suspicious.

Luka sighed. What the Hell.

He then launched himself at her, tackling her to the ground.

'ow! Fuck,' Josie exclaimed. 'that really hurt, Luka,' she said.

'what are you doing here?' she hissed.

'what are you doing here?' he countered.

'well, every single birthday, I walk through the jungle,' she said, flipping them, so she was on top.

'it's your birthday?' he asked. She nodded. 'well, here's a present for you,' he said, before head butting her.

He knocked her off him and she stood up, punching him in the face. 'thanks,' she hissed angrily.

'no problem,' he punched her back, knocking her to the ground. She pulled him down with her and elbowed him in the face. He drew back, and she flipped them around again.

They were both breathing heavily; both of them were never ready for the fight.

Luka leaned up and kissed her. And this time, although the two of them rolled over, he didn't do it to get the upper hand.

Josie kissed him back hungrily, seemingly forgetting that Luka was an enemy, her enemy.

She felt Luka's hands at the buttons of her cargo pants, and didn't even think how wrong this was.

For she was taking off his shirt now.

--

'here's your arsonist,' Sammy said, pushing Jin onto the sand.

Michael came running with Walt.

'Hey, man. You burn my raft?!' Michael yelled to Jin.

'Just calm down, and think about it for a minute,' Jack told him.

'Look at his hands, man. They're burned,' Michael said.

'Back off, Jack. It's got nothing to do with you,' Sawyer said.

'yeah, look how well that turned out last time, when we told him to back off,' Maya said. 'Sammy and Yoon anyone?'

Everyone ignored her.

Jin looked at Sun, speaking Korean.

'What'd he say?' Michael asked.

Jin continued to speak.

'where's Yoon? Maybe she can translate?' Roxy said.

Michael punched Jin.

Jack went to grab Michael, but Sammy and Sawyer grabbed Jack.

'Easy, Doc. One fight at a time,' Sawyer said.

'He's right. This is between them,' Sammy said.

Michael was about to punch him again, but was interrupted.

'Stop it!!' Sun yelled. 'Leave him alone!'

Everyone looked around, wondering who had yelled. Everyone slowly realized it was Sun.

'wait...Tokyo Rose speaks English?' Sawyer said.

'well, Chinese Whispers does too,' Aryel reasoned.

'He didn't burn your raft,' Sun said.

'didn't see that one coming,' Hurley said.

'Your raft was already on fire when he arrived. He burned his hands trying to put it out,' Sun said to Michael.

'then why did he run?' Michael asked. Sun quickly asked Jin, but there was no answer. 'exactly.'

'My husband is many things. But he is not a liar,' Sun said.

'You're going to lecture us about lying, Betty? From the look on his face, even your old man here didn't know you speak English. How do we know she's not covering for him?' Sawyer asked.

'Because she's isn't. Why would he burn the raft?' Locke asked.

'He's been after me since day one, everybody knows it...' Michael trailed off.

'Okay, it's personal, but why take it out on our best chance of getting off the island?' Locke asked. 'Why would any one of us block an attempt to get home? We're so intent on pointing the finger at one another that we're ignoring the simple undeniable truth that the problem isn't here, it's there.' He pointed to the jungle. 'They've attacked us, sabotaged us, abducted us, murdered us. Maybe it's time we stop blaming us and start worrying about them. We're not the only people on this island and we all know it!'

'he's right,' Eli said. 'Ethan may be dead, but Josie is still out there.'

'He did not do it,' Sun said to Michael.

Slowly everyone left Sun and Jin there. Sun walked up to Jin but he walked away.

Sun stared out into the ocean, alone.

--

'where are we going?' Izzie asked as Josh led her through the jungle.

'wow, you've really been away for too long if you don't remember by the path we're taking,' Josh said.

Izzie thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with anything so took off her glove and touched his face.

'the Mesa,' she said.

'it was always your favourite place,' he shrugged. 'figured you should be there now,' he said, as they walked out onto it.

Izzie put her glove back on and took his hand. 'thank you,' she whispered.

--

'we'll build another one,' Michael said.

'cool,' Walt said.

'can I help?' Lucy asked.

'you bet,' Michael said.

--

'okay, let's make a deal,' James said. 'I leave this tent-'

'finally!' Yoon exclaimed.

'-and you don't hide from the others,' he finished.

Yoon thought. She couldn't stand the looks they gave her, but she slowly nodded. 'okay.'

'great,' James said. He stood up.

'right now?'

He nodded. Yoon smiled and showed him out.

--

Josie muttered several obscenities as she pulled on her pants again, Luka putting on his shirt.

'what's wrong, Josie?' Luka smirked, although he felt as bad about it as she did.

'fuck you!' she exclaimed angrily.

'I believe you just did,' he smirked.

Josie hit him as she slipped on her shoes and picked up her shirt.

She began walking out of the clearing.

'that never happened okay? We never slept together!' she exclaimed.

'whatever you say,' he muttered as she got out of sight.

--

Yoon walked around the beach, with James next to her, introducing him to the people he didn't know.

'this is Roxanne and Aryel,' Yoon said. 'Roxy's nice, Aryel's not.'

'bite me,' Aryel said.

'and this is Claire and Jason, siblings, and Laura,' Yoon continued. 'Sawyer, resident jackass,' she added. Sammy walked over and sat with the group.

'and who's this?' James asked.

'this is Sammy,' Yoon said shortly, turning around suddenly. James followed her.

'okay, seriously, what did you do to her?' Roxy asked Sammy.

--

'you okay?' James asked Yoon, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

'yeah,' Yoon sighed. She fingered the rings on the chain around her neck.

Min-Hee reached up her hand and took a hold of the necklace. Yoon smiled.

--

Izzie and Josh were lying on their backs, looking up to the sky.

'I just wish it was simple,' Izzie said. 'like back in the old days, you know?'

'I know,' Josh said. 'I wish it was like that too.'

'it is complicated, this island, this time around,' she sighed. 'I miss it.'

'what, the old days?' he knew he sure did.

'simplicity,' she said. 'it was almost beautiful, how simple it was.'

Izzie turned to look at him. 'I would do anything – anything – to get back what I used to have.'

Josh wasn't sure what she meant – her freedom, her naïveté, her youth, her innocence, her friends, her love, or what.

He figured it was the last one when she rolled over on her side and leaned down, kissing him softly.

--

Jin walked over to Michael, bamboo in his arms.

'boat,' Jin said.

--

Yoon sat down next to Sun.

'so he found out, huh?' Yoon said softly.

'they all did,' Sun said.

--

Luka was sitting down one end of the beach, by himself. He had two bottles of vodka with him. He was thinking of Josie. He could not believe what the two of them had done, it had connected them.

Luka sighed and looked down the other end of the beach, where Eli was.

--

Eli was sitting by himself, which was a change. He used to sit by Erica, but now she was gone. And now he would sit by Roxy and Aryel, but they were nowhere in sight.

So he sat by himself, smoking. It was a really bad habit, a habit he had picked up from Josie.

Suddenly, someone sat down beside him.

He held out the packet of cigarettes to him.

Luka passed him a bottle of vodka as he took a cigarette and lit it.

The two of them sat there, smoking and drinking in silence.

--

Laura sat and stared at Jenny's grave.

She still couldn't believe she was gone.

--

Jason and Claire were sitting talking, laughing.

Jason looked up and saw Laura, and he frowned. He sighed and left her to mourn.

--

Oz and Maya were talking, every now and then looking at Lucy and Deniz, a few feet away from them.

Deniz and Lucy looked through the small box again, wondering about the woman.

--

Sammy sat by Sawyer, both of them staring into the fire.

--

Locke led Boone, Roxy and Aryel through the jungle, back to the Hatch.

Roxy and Aryel exchanged a look.

Here we go again.

--

_She wore gloves. Her mother had given them to her, telling her she didn't have to always know everything about something. But Izzie had always liked knowing, she had always liked having the upper hand in a conversation. _

_But still, she wore them, as her mother's last wish. Her mother's wish that she at least try to be normal. Okay, so Izzie paraphrased it to the point of no truth left in the statement, but she might as well had said that. _

_He didn't seem to mind her gloved hands, her psychometric nature had him on edge a lot when she didn't have gloves on. Izzie assumed he didn't realize that when he kissed her like there was no tomorrow - which, she knew there wasn't, at least not for them - that she knew more than what she knew when just holding his hand._

_She would never tell him that she was completely aware that he loved her more than life itself. She would just kiss him back, and hold the tears in, knowing soon enough he was going to let her leave, that he wasn't going to stop her._

_Izzie broke away from Josh, and looked up at the stars, the tears in her eyes shimmering like diamonds in the moonlight._

_Josh leaned over and caressed her face. 'what's wrong?'_

_she couldn't hold it in anymore. She had held it in for weeks, months. 'You're not going to stop me from going tomorrow, are you?' she asked._

_Josh took his hand away from her face. 'I'm sorry.'_

_'no you're only sorry that I found out that you don't love me,' Izzie snapped, almost laughing at how absurd her accusations were. She was more aware than him that he loved her completely._

_'Isobel-'_

_'don't,' she whispered. 'I know you do. I'm just hoping you'll change you're mind.'_

_'You want to leave the Island to get a degree, I'm not going to stop you from being a doctor,' he said._

_'and that's why I love you,' she whispered. 'you're letting me live.'_

_'I won't stop you,' he said._

_'and that's why I hate you,' she sighed. 'you're letting me go.'_

_'I won't stop you,' he repeated. 'Isobel. I know you have to do this.'_

_Izzie sat up, taking off her t-shirt._

_Josh raised an eyebrow, although a smile was growing on his face. 'you do realize we're in the Middle of the Mesa, right?'_

_Izzie nodded. 'just before I go...I need to feel you,' she said, pulling off her gloves and throwing them behind her. Izzie straddled him and he kissed her._

_'one last time,' she murmured._

_'one last time,' she repeated against his lips._

_'one last time,' he agreed, exploring her body one last time, remembering her._

_Izzie blinked and the diamonds fell._

--

Darkness. that was all she saw anymore. Ever since she had been in here. She didn't know how long – hours, days, weeks, months. Time meant nothing to her anymore. She couldn't have told you how long had passed since she was put in this cell, she couldn't tell you how many times the door had opened, how many times she had been fed. She could tell you her throat hurt, her voice was hoarse, but she kept it up.

She was in a small padded cell - in Santa Rosa Mental Institution, was it? - wearing a straitjacket.

She has been screaming for hours, days even.

screaming she is innocent, screaming for someone to let her out, for someone to help her.

'please God somebody help me!!' she screamed.

The door to the cell opened and a man and woman were standing there.

'we can help you,' Adem said.

A smile.

The woman in the straitjacket hadn't felt a smile in a long time, but she found herself smiling.

And hope sparked within Angelica Lefèvre.

--

**...Angelica Lefèvre in a mental institution. This is going to get interesting. Do any of you remember who Angelica Lefèvre is? And this was basically a filler chapter... but some interesting stuff did happen. Such as the whole raft thing....the Izzie and Josh thing (both present and flashbacks)....the Luka and Josie thing....the insight into Gus's past thing....the insight into Esther thing...the Ethan's death affected people thing, ect. And some of these things will mean a lot in the future.**

**By the way, in case anyone cares, my favourite lines would have to be:**

Izzie broke away from Josh, and looked up at the stars, the tears in her eyes shimmering like diamonds in the moonlight.

**AND**

Izzie blinked and the diamonds fell.

**...but yeah. Please review guys.**


	19. This is Our Ungodly Hour

Roxy ran through the jungle, panting hard.

She heard something rushing up behind her, and she ran even faster. She had to get back to the beach. She just had to. She had no idea what was going to happen if she didn't.

Roxy heard a metallic screech, and turned her head, seeing black smoke.

She screamed.

--

**Twelve hours ago.**

Matt sat down in front of Ben.

'so Izzie wants to bring Emmeline Lefèvre to the Island,' he said casually.

'and why would she want to do that?' Ben asked him.

'I don't know, she said that Emmeline will actually help the Morel Phenomenon, not destroy it.'

'and you believe her?' Ben asked.

'I don't know,' he admitted. 'she's manipulative, but...she doesn't manipulate me. I think she's telling the truth. This time. I think we should bring Emmeline Lefèvre to the Island.'

'okay then,' Ben said. 'you should go off the Island today and get her to come back. But, Matthew...this girl is dangerous. Take as many precautions as possible. She will be your responsibility.'

--

Max sat down next to Michelle.

'hey,' he said, offering a mango to her. She smiled, mouthed "thank you" and took it from him.

'so, we're back to silence,' Max said.

Michelle smiled. 'yes,' she said softly.

'oh, now back to speaking.'

She got out her pen and paper. _Yes._

'and back to silence. What a refreshing change of pace,' he said.

Michelle let out a small, quiet laugh, and Max grinned. He reached over and took her pen.

He took out a piece of paper and crossed off something on the list.

Michelle looked at him questionably.

'I've made a list of things to do, number two was get you to laugh. It's a nice laugh, Michelle. And your smile, that's nice too,' he said.

Michelle smiled at him and wrote down. _You're a good friend, you know that, right?_

_--_

Josie walked over to the cages, looking at Flick, the only person awake from the cages as the sun rose.

'hey,' Josie smiled.

'hey,' Flick said.

'want to go for a walk?' Josie asked her.

Flick raised an eyebrow. 'aren't you afraid that I will run?'

'you run and you will be shocked.'

'shot?' her eyes widened.

'shocked. As in with a taser,' she said. 'you good with that?'

Flick shrugged. 'sure.'

Josie opened the cage and let her out, before closing and locking the cage again.

The two began walking.

--

Jason walked over to Claire's tent.

'Claire! You awake?' he asked as he walked in.

She opened her eyes and rubbed them. 'I am now,' she said irritably.

'Happy Birthday, little sister,' Jason smiled, ignoring the death glare she gave him.

Claire smiled at him. 'thank you.'

He gave her a half hug with one arm, and showed her what was in his other hand. 'breakfast, courtesy of me,' he passed her the fish and mangoes. Claire raised an eyebrow. 'okay, Eli gathered the mangoes, Jin caught the fish, and Laura helped me cook it, and I prepared it. Happy?'

'ecstatic,' she smiled.

'your actual present is back in Sydney,' he told her.

'What is it?' she asked.

'a car,' he said.

'really?' she asked.

'no, I'm lying,' he said sarcastically. 'yes, I bought you a car.'

'thank you,' she said again. 'you didn't have to. That would have cost a lot.'

'you're my sister. Nothings too expensive to buy you.'

--

Michael was hammering on the raft, Yoon next to the raft, with Min-Hee in her arms. James was next to her.

Luka, Sammy and Jin were helping on the raft. Walt, Deniz and Lucy walked over.

'I thought you were on the raft,' Deniz said to Yoon.

'I am,' Yoon said.

'Why aren't you helping?' Walt asked.

'I'm watching for arsonists.'

'Walt's got a point. You could pitch in, seeing as how you already bought your ticket,' Michael said.

'honey, I have a responsibility to look after my daughter,' she snapped.

At that moment a bundle of bamboo broke apart.

Jin spoke in Korean. Michael turned around and started yelling at him.

'this is better than cable,' Sammy said.

'why do you talk?' Yoon said.

'why are you a bitch?' Sammy snapped back.

'why did you k-'

'I didn't know he was your damn husband!' he exclaimed angrily. 'get the fuck over it.'

Yoon turned to James. 'James, you know what he did. Should I get over it?'

'no,' he said.

'exactly,' Yoon said, standing up and leaving.

--

'it's not going to work,' Aryel said in a sing-song voice.

'you've got to have some faith, Aryel,' Locke said.

Roxy, Boone and Aryel looked at the trebuchet with doubt in their eyes. Locke started preparing the trebuchet.

'faith is the last thing I feel, honey,' Aryel said.

--

Josh opened his eyes and blinked in shock. Izzie was sitting right in front of him.

'you right there?' he muttered. 'how long have you been there for?'

'awhile,' she said.

'did you need something?' he sighed, sitting up.

'I think we need to talk,' she said. 'about last night.'

'okay,' he said. 'I love you. I want to be with you. That a good enough talk?'

'how do I know you're not going to leave me again?' she asked.

'I doubt that will happen, but why don't we focus on the present?' he said.

Her eyes flitted over to the time. 'when do you start work?' she asked.

'an hour,' he said. 'why?'

Izzie stood up and calmly walked over to him. She straddled him and kissed his lips.

'fair enough,' Josh murmured against her lips.

--

'sweet,' Serena murmured, looking around the building they had found.

'What is this place?' Libby asked.

'It looks like some sort of storage facility,' Goodwin said.

Suddenly, Ana hit a switch, and the lights came on.

Akilina, Induala and Lucian opened a crate. They started searching through it.

Akilina took out a Bible, before subconsciously moving her hand up to the cross around her neck.

Lucian and Induala kept searching. 'there's some blankets,' Lucian told the others.

'any idea where we are?' Erin asked Akilina. 'surely you've been here before.'

'she is not one of them,' Induala snapped.

'and here's a book,' Lucian added, opening it. '_Maleko Kalei_,' he read out. 'it's a diary.'

Serena took it from him.

'you're not reading someone's diary,' Nic said sternly, taking it from her. He put it back in the crate.

'and a radio,' Lucian said.

--

'could...' Josie hesitated. 'could I tell you something, and could you not judge me or tell anyone?'

'sure...' Flick said.

'I slept with one of the survivors,' she said.

Flick's eyes widened. 'when you were with them?'

'no. Yesterday,' she said.

'wow...just wow,' Flick said in disbelief. 'what's his name?'

'Luka,' she said. 'Luka Sokolov.'

'is he hot?'

Josie smiled. 'he is,' she said.

--

'why didn't it work?' Roxy asked as the four of them started chopping wood again.

'It didn't work because it wasn't strong enough,' Locke said.

'I don't think that glass is going to break,' Boone said.

'Everything breaks if you apply the right force,' Locke said.

'have I told you lately that I think you're insane?' Aryel asked, amused.

--

_Roxy was pissed. There was no other way to describe it. She wasn't irritated, annoyed or anything like that, this was a whole new level. She was pissed off beyond all Hell. She was a nineteen year old protester who had gotten knocked to the ground during a protest and had miscarried a baby she didn't even know she had._

_And under any other circumstances, that shouldn't have bothered her. But this bothered her now. She should've just gone on with her life, like it didn't happen, but it ate up at her. She didn't know. How could she not know? She was four months pregnant, and she didn't notice. What the Hell was wrong with her?_

_A man sat down next to her at the bar and smiled at her._

'_hi,' he said. 'did it hurt when you fell out of heaven?' he asked, smiling charmingly._

'_not nearly as bad as when you hit planet rejection,' she snapped back. She knew it was the alcohol that made her a bitch, but still, she drank it._

_The guy's smile faltered, but then he turned to his other side to the brunette there._

_The man let out a fake sigh, and Roxy watched in interest. Even she could tell the woman wasn't one to take anyone's shit._

'_I just love exotic places,' he said. 'love travelling. Always fun.'_

_Roxy was curious as to where he was going with this, but the other woman ignored him._

'_you know what's funny?' he continued. 'I also love sex. What do you say about that?'_

'_hmmm....' the woman was obviously pretending to consider. 'so you like travel and sex?'_

_The man smiled and nodded._

'_so go take a fucking hike!' she all but yelled at him._

_Roxy choked on her drink and started laughing. The man walked away, muttering "bitches" under his breath._

_The woman turned to Roxy._

'_I'm Roxy,' Roxy smiled._

'_Aryel,' she smiled, which even Roxy knew was rare, just looking at her._

_The woman, Aryel, moved over so she was sitting right next to Roxy, and ordered another drink._

_--_

'happy birthday, Blondie,' Laura smiled, sitting down next to Claire and Jason.

'pot calling the kettle black,' Jason said, looking pointedly at her blonde hair.

'you're one to talk,' Laura shot back.

'thank you, Laura,' Claire said.

She put a hand on her stomach and looked away, a troubled look on her face.

--

Layla tried the radio.

'Hello? Hello, can anybody hear me?' she asked into it.

Goodwin grabbed the radio. 'The hills are blocking it. If we want a signal we need to get to higher ground. I'll do it.'

'I'll go with you,' Ana Lucia said.

--

Aryel, Boone, Roxy and Locke looked at the man.

'what the bloody Hell is a Nigerian priest doing on an Island in the South Pacific?' Aryel asked in wonder.

Locke found a gun on the man.

'I'm not so sure he's a priest,' he said.

--

'I saw her!' Shannon exclaimed. 'I saw her!'

'whatever, Shannon,' Maya said, bored.

'no, I saw Erica,' Shannon said. 'I heard whispers, and she was there. I saw her.'

'saw who?' Eli asked, walking over.

'I saw Erica,' Shannon said.

Luka stopped walking and turned to them.

'what?' he asked.

'that is a good point, my friend,' Eli said in shock.

'look, wherever she is, Erica is okay,' Maya said.

'oh, bullshit,' Luka exclaimed. 'that psycho Josie is with her, and who knows what other type of people.'

'she didn't see her,' Maya exclaimed loudly.

'Maya, I know what I saw,' Shannon said.

--

Max sat down next to Michelle again.

She turned to him, to see him with a stack of books.

'so, I was looking for a book to read,' he began. 'and Maya told me that Sawyer had heaps of them. So I went to his tent to find one to read, and I came across some of Aryel's books. I wanted to know if you want to read them, you know, to pass the time. She's really good.'

Michelle smiled and nodded.

Max passed her one of the books.

--

Ana Lucia entered the clearing outside the hatch, alone.

'Where's Goodwin?' Libby asked.

'We're safe here now,' she said, passing the radio back to Layla.

Erin looked at Akilina.

'told you it wasn't me,' Akilina muttered.

--

'hey!' Laura called out, running across the beach. 'want to go hunting?' she asked Jason.

Jason's eyes flickered over to Claire, who was lying in the sand, her eyes closed, trying to rest.

'I'm not an invalid,' she reminded him, keeping her eyes closed.

'okay,' Jason said to Laura. 'let's get going.'

She passed him a knife and they walked into the jungle.

--

'mother f....' Aryel trailed off. 'how long do you reckon that's been there for?' she looked at the plane on the cliff.

'Doesn't matter,' Locke said. 'What's important is that we found it. What's important is what's inside it.'

'What is inside of it, John?' Boone asked.

'maybe you should climb up and check it out,' Aryel said sarcastically.

'maybe I will,' he said.

--

'_yes, mom,' Eli said into a phone. 'no, mom, I'm not doing anything dangerous. Of course I'm taking my medication,' he said, not thinking it was necessary to actually tell her again that he didn't need it, because he wasn't depressed._

_Eli began walking down the stairs, trying to convince his mom that he was fine, and contrary to her belief, he didn't have a variety of illnesses from pre-diabetes to asthma. And now apparently depression._

_On the last step, Eli stumbled, but then straightened himself out, only for a man to rush down the stairs, knocking him to the ground, his face hitting the concrete landing. He heard something crunch and felt something warm trickling down his face._

'_Eli!' he heard from the phone._

_He groaned and picked it up. 'I'm fine mom. I fell down some stairs, it's okay. I just have blood coming from my nose, and my face hurts, and I think I might've twisted my ankle, but don't worry, I'm fine!' he exclaimed in a fake cheery voice. He touched his nose and winced. Maybe he had broken it._

_Oops._

_--_

Eli sat down next to Shannon, who was moodily staring out to sea.

'what's up?' he asked. She didn't answer, just continued to look out to sea.

'look, Shan – is it alright if I call you Shan?' he cut himself off with a question. She nodded. 'look, Shan, I believe you. I believe you saw Erica. Because Erica is not okay, no matter where she is.'

'you believe me?' she asked.

'I do,' he said. 'so how you gonna prove to Maya that you're right?'

'I'm going to find her,' she said, determined.

'can I come?'

'sure,' she said, standing up.

'oh, right now? Sure, that works,' he said, following her into the jungle.

_--_

Boone started climbing up to the plane.

After awhile he got into the plane, and started looking around.

'Want to know what's in your damn plane, Locke?' Boone yelled down. He threw a Virgin Mary statue to the ground. 'here's your sign!'

The statue broke open to reveal bags of heroin.

Aryel stared at it, transfixed.

'They're drug smugglers, Locke. Heroin, that's all that's in here,' Boone said.

His eyes fell on the radio.

And the plane started shaking.

--

Layla tried the radio again.

'it's not going to work,' Ashley said in a sing-song voice.

'It might,' Layla argued.

Suddenly, the radio came to life with a voice.

--

'Hello. Hello, anybody out there? Mayday. Mayday,' Boone said into the radio.

'Boone, get out!' Roxy shrieked.

--

'Is there someone there?' Layla asked into the radio.

'oh my God,' Induala smiled.

--

'Can you hear me?' Boone asked.

'BOONE!' Roxy screamed. 'GET OUT!'

Aryel ran to the side of the cliff, and started climbing.

--

'Repeat your transmission, please,' Layla said into the radio.

'Hello. I'm Boone Carlyle, I'm one of the survivors of Oceanic flight 815. Please copy,' the voice said.

Constance and Ana Lucia exchanged a look.

--

'_We're _the survivors of flight 815,' Boone heard through the radio.

'no, we are the survivors!' Boone exclaimed.

Aryel entered the plane.

'BOONE!! ARY! COME ON!' Roxy shrieked. 'IT'S GONNA FALL!'

'Boone, let's go,' Aryel barked.

She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door of the plane.

The plane shifted and fell.

Aryel saw Boone's scared face, she heard Roxy's scream.

She felt the impact, heard the scream and saw the red before her eyes closed.

--

Ana had taken the radio.

'What are you doing?' Layla asked.

'it's them,' she said. She turned off the radio. 'It's them. They're trying to draw us out – trying to find us.'

'he said, 815,' Layla said. 'flight 815.'

'They know our flight number because Goodwin knew our flight number,' Constance said.

'What if there really are other survivors out there?' Akilina said.

'There are no survivors. This is our life now. Get used to it,' Ana said before walking off.

There was silence for a moment.

'did anyone else hear the screams?' Mindy asked.

--

Hayden walked into a house, sitting down in front of the girl.

'hi,' she said, looking somewhere above the girls head.

'hi...' Erica said.

'I'm Hayden. Hayden Shephard,' she said.

'as in the member of No Fury?' Erica asked.

'the very same. Anyway, so I want to know a few things.'

'like what?'

'for starters, if I helped you escape, would you take me with you?'

_--_

Locke and Roxy ran into the caves, Boone in Locke's arms and Aryel in Roxy's.

'JACK!' Roxy yelled. 'we need help!'

'Put them down up here,' Jack said, hurrying over to them. 'What happened?' he asked as they put the two injured people down.

'There was an accident. Boone fell off a cliff out near the place we were hunting, and Aryel grabbed him, but he was too heavy for her, and they both fell,' Locke lied.

Roxy looked at him incredulously.

Jack and Petro began working on them.

'Okay, I'm going to need some water, shirts, towels, anything that I can use to staunch the bleeding, Kate,' Jack said.

Kate ran off to find those things.

'John, tell me exactly what happened,' Jack said, turning around. 'John? Locke? Locke? Locke?'

Locke and Roxy were gone.

--

Roxy hit Locke.

'asshole, asshole, asshole!' she snapped.

'Roxanne...' he began.

'don't! You knew this was going to happen, didn't you? You knew, you bastard!'

'Roxanne-'

'shut it! Don't talk to me! Aryel is my friend, and you just let her get hurt! And what about Boone? Don't you care about anyone but yourself? Asshole!'

Roxy walked away, through the jungle angrily.

--

Ana was sitting by the stream, alone, crying.

Eko looked at her.

'What are you looking at?' Ana Lucia snapped.

'It's going to be okay,' Eko said, approaching her.

'What, you're talking now?' she asked.

'It's been 40 days,' Eko said.

'You've been waiting 40 days to talk?' Ana asked.

'You waited 40 days to cry,' he said.

--

Locke was kneeling on the Hatch, banging on the door.

'I've done everything you wanted me to do, so why did you do this to me?' he yelled angrily.

In the Hatch, a light went on, shining through the door.

_--_

Yoon stood in the doorway of the infirmary, darkly watching as Sammy helped Michael on the raft.

James joined her in the doorway and put a consoling hand on her arm.

'I hate him,' she murmured. 'but I'm kind of glad he did it...'

'what?' James asked, taking his hand away.

'I loved my husband, don't get me wrong. But...I was exhausted from the lies. Where I went, what I did, who I met. It was hard to keep up with what I told him. And now I don't have to do that again. I don't have to lie.'

James nodded, suddenly hearing someone repeat those words in his head. _I don't have to lie_. Who said it?

James sighed.

--

'we need room,' Petro said. 'If it's not necessary to be here, leave,' he said to the others.

Slowly, everyone began leaving the caves, apart from Petro, Jack, Sun and Maya.

Jack looked at Maya.

'I've seen these kind of wounds out in the wilderness,' she said. 'I've fixed wounds like this,' she said. 'you need my help.'

Jack nodded.

As Oz was leaving the caves, Petro yelled out to him.

'Oz! Go find Yoon and Jason!' he yelled.

'dude, Jason's hunting with Laura,' Hurley said.

'of course he is,' Petro rolled his eyes.

--

Roxy was at the plane. The plane that may or may not have ended her friend's life. The friend she should have been sitting next to, telling her that it was going to be okay.

But she couldn't do that.

To sit there, to sit there and hold her hand, to tell her it was going to be okay, that would be giving up.

And Roxy was not going to give up on her best friend.

Not that easily.

So she continued walking through the jungle, trying to find the Others.

--

Yoon entered the caves.

'what happened?' she said, tying her hair back.

'Locke said that they fell down a cliff,' Kate said.

'and you believe him?' Yoon asked, checking Aryel's wounds.

'no,' Jack said. 'but we don't know what could have caused all this damage.'

Jack turned to Kate. 'Get to the beach. Ransack Sawyer's stuff. I want his alcohol – rubbing, scotch,' he said.

Boone started breathing shallowly, almost gasping for breath.

'pneumothorax,' Yoon murmured.

'Jack, what's going on?' Kate asked, looking at Boone.

'His lung just collapsed,' Jack said. Jack got a tube and peroxide. He stuck the tube in Boone's chest, and his breathing improved a bit.

Jack turned to see Kate staring at Boone. 'What are you still doing here? The alcohol, Kate. You want them to live – get to the beach, now!'

--

'this is completely useless,' Jason said. 'the boars have probably migrated.'

'well, then where the Hell has Locke been getting it from?' Laura asked.

'well, he actually hasn't for awhile,' he said. 'we should just go back.'

'yeah,' she said.

--

'it was a sign...' Aryel murmured, delirious. 'it was a sign...'

'yeah, you keep saying that,' Yoon said. 'but you don't say what was a sign.'

'her leg's a closed fracture,' Petro said. 'we can set it.'

'I wonder how far they had to be carried,' Jack said.

'I'm going to die...' Boone murmured.

'Boone, listen to me. Listen! You are not going to die. I'm going to fix this, okay? I am going to save you,' Jack said.

--

Sawyer was packing his alcohol into a bag for Kate. 'How'd it happen?' he asked.

'Locke said that they fell off a cliff while they were out hunting boar,' Kate said.

'Boar they never seem to get.'

'is that it?' she asked, looking at the alcohol.

'Afraid so. Warrior Princess has some more, I think.'

'who?' Kate asked.

Laura and Jason walked out of the jungle and Sawyer nodded his head over there.

'right,' Kate said.

'oi! Warrior Princess!' Sawyer yelled out.

'call me Warrior Princess one more time, and I'll shove this-' she began.

'we need your alcohol,' Kate interrupted.

'why?' she asked.

'Boone and Aryel, they're injured badly,' Kate said.

Laura ran over to her tent.

--

'I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'm sorry,' Boone kept repeating in a raspy voice.

'He needs blood,' Jack said.

'What?' Sun asked.

'blood. A transfusion,' Petro nodded in understanding.

'she does too,' Yoon added.

'how will you do that?' Maya asked.

'I...I don't know,' Jack said.

--

Kate, Laura and Jason ran through the jungle.

Kate stopped when she heard a sound. Jason and Laura stopped and turned.

'we gotta keep going,' Laura said.

'wait a second,' Kate told her.

She walked a bit through the jungle, the other two following her. Soon enough, they came upon Claire.

Claire had her hand against a tree and was moaning in pain.

'Claire? What are you doing out here?' Laura asked.

'Nothing. Just leave me alone, please,' she said through gritted teeth.

'what's wrong?' Kate asked.

Jason's eyes widened in realization. 'you're having the baby,' he said.

--

Roxy ran through the jungle, panting hard.

She heard something rushing up behind her, and she ran even faster. She had to get back to the beach. She just had to. She had no idea what was going to happen if she didn't.

Roxy heard a metallic screech, and turned her head, seeing black smoke.

She screamed.

--

'Claire, we need to get you back to camp,' Laura said soothingly.

'I'm fine. I just need to – I just need to catch my breath,' she insisted.

'It's not okay. You're having contractions, Claire,' Kate said.

'No! I'm bloody not. Can you just leave me alone. Please.'

'we got to get you to the caves,' Jason said.

'Look, I can't,' Claire said.

Jason turned to the other two. 'how fast can you run?'

'leaving right now,' Laura said. She took the bag off Kate and started to run off.

'Don't leave me,' Claire said softly.

Jason put an arm around her shoulder. 'I'm not going anywhere.'

--

She hid her face, not wanting to see the smoke kill her, not wanting to see the images floating around in the black smoke.

She saw many things. The picture she had of her mother, her adoptive mother, her adoptive sisters, Josefina for some reason, many, many things.

But she closed her eyes, until the clicking mechanical sounds stopped.

And then she opened her eyes and turned around, to where the smoke had been.

And her mother was standing there.

--

Laura entered the caves, panting.

'Laura, what is it?' Sun asked.

'Jack – Claire – pregnant – labour – now – help!' she exclaimed through gasping for breath.

'what?' Jack asked.

'Claire! She's in labour,' Laura finally got out. 'like right now. Having contractions, the whole shebang. We need your help.'

Yoon's head snapped up. 'she's in labour?'

'yeah. She's okay, for now, but she's in so much pain you wouldn't believe,' she paused, realizing who she was talking to. 'okay, you would.'

'how fast are the contractions coming?' Jack asked.

'Every 2 minutes, I think,' Laura said.

'Is she nauseous? Can she stand? Is there any bleeding? Did her water break?' he continued.

'no, none of that, but she can't move, Jack. You gotta come quickly.'

'is Jason with her?' Jack asked.

'yeah, but-'

'he can help her.'

'have you just ignored everything I just said? We need you.'

'right now, Boone needs me more. Jason has delivered a baby before, he can do it again.'

'I'll go,' Yoon said.

'Yoon-'

'Jack, Jason has delivered a baby, but so have I, and I've actually given birth before. I know what it feels like, I know how she'll feel, she'll want to kill everyone. So I'll go.'

Jack nodded. 'go quickly,' he said.

_--_

Claire smiled.

'They've stopped,' she announced. 'they've actually stopped.'

'that happens, I think,' Kate looked at Jason. 'right?'

'yeah, it happens, Claire,' he assured her.

'No, no, no, they're not coming anymore. I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm okay,' Claire said.

'Claire,' Jason warned. 'no.'

'No, no, no. I'm okay, really,' she stood up.

'Claire, I don't think that you should be doing-' Kate began.

Claire suddenly looked down.

'What is that?' she asked, scared.

'I think your water just broke,' Kate said, shocked.

'No, no, no. No, I can't have the baby now,' Claire exclaimed. 'I can't have the baby now.'

'Just hold on. Jack's coming. Claire, he's coming,' Jason said soothingly.

--

Roxy stared at the woman, transfixed.

'Are-are you Rina Morel?' she asked in a shaky whisper.

The woman, who may or may not have been her mother, got out a gun and levelled Roxanne's head with it.

'don't shoot me!' Roxy exclaimed. 'just... are you my mother?'

Before the woman could answer, a voice interrupted them.

'mom!'

The two turned their heads and Josie stumbled out of the trees, walking over to the other woman's side.

'what is it?' the woman asked in a sharp whisper.

'It was seen near here. We better be careful,' Josie said. She turned her head, and only just noticed that Roxy was there. 'hi,' she said calmly, taking out her gun too.

'seriously, don't shoot me,' Roxy said. 'I just wanted to ask a question.'

'is that the only reason you're out here?' the woman asked, a cold undertone to her words.

'I was also trying to find you...Others,' she admitted.

'you call us the Others?' Josie asked.

'why do you wish to find us?' the woman asked.

'my friends, Aryel and Boone....they are dying. I...' she couldn't believe she was going to say this. 'I need your help.'

--

Yoon and Laura ran through the jungle.

'how much further?' Yoon asked.

'right in front of you,' Kate said, looking up at them. Behind her, Jason was sitting with Claire, calming her down. 'where's Jack?'

'I'd actually prefer Yoon now,' Jason said. He stood up and walked over to them. Claire looked at them, wondering what was going on. Laura sat down next to her, asking her a few questions.

'she's a psycho,' Kate hissed. 'she attacked Sammy.' _And is a criminal_, she added mentally, not caring that she was being a bit hypocritical.

'she's given birth,' Laura reminded Kate.

'okay, now that we've all come to the conclusion that I'm a psycho, let's move the fuck on!' Yoon exclaimed irritably. She sat down next to Claire. 'Claire, honey, how are you feeling?'

'that woman must have bipolar,' Laura concluded, talking to Kate.

'who cares?' Jason said.

'it hurts,' Claire exclaimed through a contraction.

'I know, sweetie, I know,' Yoon said. 'but you can do this. You wanna know why? Because you are a woman, and God made women give birth coz we can handle the pain.'

Claire looked at her.

'You know I was out there for over a week, there's a lot of days I can't remember,' Claire told her. 'I mean, what if, what if they did something to the baby? I'm not ready for this. I'm not. I'm so scared. I'm scared.'

'I am too, if it helps,' Laura offered. She gave a sharp look to the others.

'me too,' Kate added.

'and me,' Jason took her hand.

They all looked at Yoon, and she sighed. 'I'm not scared. I've done this dozens of times. You're in good hands. We're going to get through this together, okay?'

'okay,' she said in a small voice.

--

'I don't get it,' Shannon said. 'I saw her.'

'I know you did,' he said. 'but we're just going too far in, okay Shan? We don't know what's out here. We have to go back to camp and get some supplies. We should have done that to begin with. It's the middle of the night, and it's freezing. And you are wearing really short shorts,' he said. 'aren't you cold?'

'a little,' she admitted. He gave her a look. 'okay, a lot,' she said. 'fine,' she sighed. 'we'll go back, get supplies, and come back in the morning.'

'great! Best idea you've had all day!' she gave him a look. 'okay, actually, trying to find Erica was a good idea, but how you came out here, that wasn't a good idea, without any supplies, and stuff, but it was a good pl- I'll just shut up, how's that?' he asked, realizing he was digging a huge hole.

'yeah, you do that.'

--

'it's not working,' Petro said.

'never noticed _that_,' Maya muttered sarcastically.

'there is no way Boone's going to survive this,' Petro said matter-of-factly. 'Aryel might, there's a slight chance she will, but Boone won't.'

'way to be optimistic,' Maya said dryly.

--

'okay, Claire, push,' Yoon said.

Claire held her breath.

'no, no, no,' Jason and Yoon said in unison.

'don't hold your breath,' Jason said sternly.

'You won't be able to push if you - Claire? Claire, what are you doing? Oh, no, no, no, Claire, you need to push, right now. Don't do this, Claire, okay? You can't stop this – this is happening. Your baby is coming and I need your help,' Yoon exclaimed.

Claire started sobbing.

'it's not going to want me,' she sobbed.

'what?' Jason asked softly.

'It knows I don't want it – that I was going to give it away. Babies know that stuff,' she explained.

'Claire,' Jason said patiently. 'remember the day you told me you were pregnant?' she nodded, teary eyed. 'do you remember one of the first things I said after we argued about whether or not I'd go to Iraq?'

She nodded. 'you told me that you had known since you had seen me with Jeremy that I would be a good mother.'

'and that hasn't changed, Claire,' he said. 'even if the baby knows you were going to give it away, the important thing is that you want this baby now. The baby knows that. The baby knows that you love it. You are not doing this alone. We are all here for you,' he looked around the others for support.

'absolutely,' Kate nodded.

'anything you need,' Laura added.

'anytime you can't sleep, come find me. Chances are I'll be awake,' Yoon said.

'so you need to push Claire,' Jason said. 'I promise it will be easier afterwards.'

'but what if-'

'and has he broken a promise yet?' Laura cut in, knowing the answer.

'so you gotta push,' Yoon said. 'okay? 1,2,3, push. Good. Good.'

--

'I'm sorry,' the woman said, somewhat genuinely. 'there is nothing we can do to save them.'

'what?' Roxy asked. 'why?'

If she had trekked out here for no reason, if she had risked her life to save her friends lives, even though she couldn't, then she was going to hit someone, or something.

'if it is their time to go, then it is their time to go. There is nothing we can do to stop it, we can prolong their lives, but they will die eventually, because they were might meant to die now, if that is the case, then no natural thing can save them.'

'okay, fine,' Roxy sighed in defeat. 'thank...you,' she said hesitantly. 'for helping me.'

The woman gave her a small, miniscule smile. 'and for not shooting me,' Roxy added.

'you can go back to your camp now,' the woman said. 'but you never saw us.'

'and you never saw me then,' she said.

'you have the Morel fire,' the woman observed.

'so you are my mother? Rina Morel?' Roxy asked.

'her name is Kat,' Josie spoke up. 'not Rina.'

Roxy rolled her eyes and turned around to leave.

The woman, Kat, rolled her eyes. 'my name is Katarina Morel. I used to go by Rina, many, many years ago, but now I go by Kat. Yes, Rosanna, I am your mother,' she said. 'and Josephine is your sister,' she added.

Roxy stopped walking and stood still for a few moments.

Whispers arose around them, and she turned, not wanting to be by herself in this danger.

But she was alone.

--

'Jack...' Boone rasped. 'Jack...'

Jack looked at him, leaning down to hear.

'there's no chance,' he gasped.

'I'm not going to let you give up,' Jack told him.

'I know you made a promise. I'm letting you off the hook. Let me go, Jack,' he told him.

'I'm sorry,' Jack said.

'Don't be,' Boone said softly.

--

'breathe,' Yoon instructed. 'c'mon breathe, breathe, okay, okay. Ready? I think it's close, c'mon. That's really good.'

'I can see the top of its head,' Laura added. 'come on, honey. You can do it.'

'You're almost there. You're so close, you're so close,' Jason said encouragingly, letting his hand be squeezed hard.

'C'mon, one more. Push, push, push, push, push. Oh, you have a little boy,' Yoon exclaimed. She quickly cleaned him up.

'I have a son. I have a son,' Claire said happily.

'your baby boy,' Yoon added, passing the baby to Claire.

Yoon smiled at her as Claire gazed down at her son. Jason kissed the top of Claire's head.

'good job,' he whispered in her ear. Laura smiled at Jason and reached for his hand. He pulled her over to him and kissed her quickly.

Kate smiled at Yoon.

--

_Matt laughed. _

'_you're getting married?' he asked sceptically. He couldn't believe it. He had, by a complete fluke, run into her, only a few days before her wedding. He had told her he would cease contact with her, but he found he was enjoying this._

'_yes,' she laughed._

'_you? Isobel Chang? Who would have thought?' he asked sarcastically._

_Izzie smiled and led him over to a table in a restaurant. 'everyone, this is my brother Matthew,' she introduced to them._

'_Matt,' he said._

_Izzie quickly signed the introductions of everyone as she pointed to them each._

'_he's deaf?' one of Izzie's bridesmaids, Daina, asked. _

'_yes, I am, but I hope that doesn't factor into anything you think about me,' Matt said to her._

'_how did...?' she trailed off._

'_he can read lips,' Izzie told her. _

'_so when are you getting married, Iz?' Matt asked in Mandarin._

'_three days,' she replied in their native language. 'could...could you give me away?'_

_Matt smiled and nodded. 'anything for you,' he said in Mandarin._

_She hugged him. 'thank you.'_

'_Izzie....' he trailed off in English. 'you're never coming home, are you?'_

'_sorry, Matt,' she said. 'you know how much I love home, I miss them all. But this is my home now.'_

_--_

Jack, Maya and Petro looked at Boone, watching him die slowly.

Aryel, who was slowly leaving her state of delirium, reached out to Boone, holding his hand.

'Tell Shannon - tell Shannon – tell...' he gasped out, before going silent.

A tear fell from Aryel's eye and she reached up, closing his eyes.

--

Early the next morning, Claire walked out onto the beach, her baby in her arms, the others behind her. Several people walked over to her, admiring the baby.

--

Shannon and Eli walked onto the beach, laughing with each other.

Petro walked over to them and spoke to Shannon.

--

Roxy slowly entered the caves and sat down next to Aryel, taking her sleeping friends hand.

--

Yoon walked over to her sister, who had been looking after Min-Hee, and took her daughter into her arms.

--

Shannon cried over Boone, Eli standing behind her and patting her back consolingly.

--

Jack walked into the jungle, after telling Kate he was going to find Locke.

--

**Santa Fe**

Matt watched the heavily tattooed girl walk towards him, wrapping a short black satin robe around her skimpy outfit.

'okay, what do you want?' she asked, sitting down and taking off her heels. 'I have half an hour to get across town to my other job, and I can't waste it talking to you about crap. So let's start. Hi, I'm Emmeline Lefèvre, also known as Tattooed Lady at second job, and Sapphire at first. Who are you?'

'I'm Dr Matthew Chang,' he said. 'I work for a man called Benjamin Linus.'

'funny, the other man mentioned that name,' she said.

'what other man?' Matt asked.

'that would be me,' Adem said, walking over with Devika next to him.

'Devika, Adem,' Matt nodded. 'I heard the two of you got divorced.'

'oh, we did,' Devika said.

'you were saying?' Emmeline said to Matt.

'I work for Benjamin Linus, and he, along with my other associates is interested in you.'

'they said that about their employer too,' she said.

'you are special,' Matt told her.

'they said that too.'

'you can help our community. You are destined for this. You were born amongst our community, but if you, and your two cousins grew up together than it would be a danger. So you and your family left the community. But it's time to come back now. If you want.'

Emmeline looked at him.

'If I want...' she trailed off.

'you don't have to,' Devika interrupted.

'in fact, you shouldn't,' Adem added.

'shut it,' Matt said. Devika's eyes flashed with anger, and Adem put a hand on her arm to stop her, before she even started. She looked at his hand in shock, and he immediately let go, realizing what he had done.

'we've been in contact with your mother,' Adem said to Emmeline.

'my mother is insane,' Emmeline said.

'she told us to tell you not to go,' Adem said.

'really? She said that?'

'yes,' Adem said.

Emmeline turned and walked to a door, opening it to look at her boss. 'I quit,' she said.

Matt, Devika and Adem looked genuinely surprised as she walked back to them.

She picked up her belongings and looked up, at Matt.

'right. Let's go.'

Matt smiled at her and led her to his car.

Devika and Adem let them leave.

'he's going to be pleased,' Adem said. 'Izzie's doing her job right.'

'she is,' Devika agreed.

--

**I know, I know. What the fuck, right? Izzie....But Emmeline's coming to the Island now. And yes, the Eli and Shannon friendship is weird, I know. That's why I put it. It seems unlikely. And Roxy finally knows that Kat is her mother and Josie her sister. **

**Oh, and there's a poll on my authors page.**


	20. One Drop of Sweet Poison

**Okay, here's the next chapter. It's another Yoon centric. Enjoy!**

A splash of water and the mug filled up, the liquid turning brown. She picked it up, bringing the mug to her lips, letting the scalding hot coffee burn her.

She deserved this.

The Island was her life, her homeland, and she was giving people she shouldn't talk to information, information they shouldn't know.

She sat down and looked through the file she had been given.

_Objective: Kill Camilla Alpert._

She knew Cam had secrets, that Cam knew things, but no one knew the extent. She was a private person, and the extent of her knowledge was dangerous. But the fact that she had to be killed because of it...

Izzie sighed and downed the rest of her coffee; it was just the way she liked it.

Bitter.

--

Shannon looked down at the hole in the ground, where her brother was lying. She was aware of everyone around her, looking at her or the hole, but she didn't look at any of them.

She just stared at the hole, wondering how this happened.

'Shannon?' Jack asked hesitantly. 'do you want to say something?'

'no,' she said softly.

There was a pause as everyone waited for someone to speak.

'okay, so- ow! Fuck.'

Aryel had stood up, almost fallen over because of her broken leg, and leaned on Roxy for support. Roxy stood up and held her friend up.

'okay, so,' Aryel began again. 'I'm not sure if you all remember, but I used to be a legit bitch.'

'used to?' Maya muttered.

'anyway,' Aryel shot her a look. 'so Locke, Roxy, Boone and I, we all started hunting. At this time I was still a legit bitch. And Boone and I, we argued most of the time, and said we hated each other, but in reality, we actually became friends, in our weird kind of way. He broke through my legit bitchiness. He was a good person. If not good, than a great one. Now, I'm not sure if any of you remember, but on the day of the crash, my good friend here, Roxy, was drowning. No one noticed her in the water, no one but Boone. And Boone saved her life. So I didn't know Boone as well as some people must have, but, uh... he saved my friends life. He saved several lives after the crash. Probably before as well. His courage will be remembered. And if not by you, than by me. Boone Carlyle was a good person. And he will be missed.'

There was silence and Aryel sat down again with Roxy.

'It was my fault.'

Everyone turned to see Locke walk over.

'We found a plane, a Beechcraft, in the jungle,' Locke continued.

'oh, so _now _we're telling the truth?' Roxy snapped irritably.

'It was lodged in the canopy and I would have gone up, but I – my leg was hurt so he – there was a radio inside and he thought he could – look, his weight must have made the plane shift and it fell -and –it happened because he was trying to help us. He was a hero.'

Roxy stood up and angrily walked over to him, punching him.

'we all knew that before you killed him you son of a bitch!' she shrieked. She punched him again.

Aryel jumped up, but suddenly stopped, leaning on Charlie for support. 'somebody pull her off, damn it!' she exclaimed.

Charlie gently sat her down and rushed over to Roxy, pulling her back.

'come on, it's over, Roxy!' he exclaimed.

'I swear to God, Charlie, if you don't let me go-'

'Rosanna! It's over!' Aryel exclaimed. She turned to Hurley. 'help me out here.'

She stood up and using Hurley as a support, hobbled over to Roxy.

Aryel wrapped her arms around Roxy. 'it's over, okay? It's over.'

Roxy hugged Aryel back and glared at Locke.

'c'mon,' Aryel muttered, gesturing for Roxy to walk with her. Charlie put his arm around Aryel, helping her walk. Hurley walked on the other side of Roxy.

--

_A young, twelve year old Yoon sat by her mother's bed. She held her hand, consoling her softly in Korean._

'_promise me, Yoon-Cha,' her mother, Eun-Hee, said in their native language. 'promise me that you will continue the legacy. Promise me that you will finish the work.'_

'_I promise,' Yoon nodded. 'what am I supposed to do?'_

'_when I'm gone, Chin will take you to Seoul, and will train you in secret while you get adopted by a nice South Korean family. After a certain number of years, most likely when you come of age, you will tell your new family you want to travel, and Chin, plus a group of other people around your age that he has trained, will travel to another country, maybe America, maybe England, maybe Australia, and you will become a sleeper cell. You will bring them down.'_

'_of course, Mother,' Yoon said._

_Her mother coughed and then turned to her. 'and Yoon-Cha...'_

'_yes?'_

'_if you shall see your father....kill him.'_

--

'I. Am. Fine.'

'yeah, you see, honey, I don't believe that for one second,' Laura said.

'You need rest, Claire,' Yoon said. 'In a hospital they would have you sleep. The nurses would take your baby. Or so the rest of them told me when I gave birth.'

'you're not helping,' Jason snapped. 'seriously Claire-'

'What if he needs something, okay?' she interrupted.

'you'll be there for him – after you sleep,' Laura said.

'no.'

'Claire, no one is going to take this baby away from you. No one,' Yoon said.

'You don't know that, okay. You can't say that.'

Jason sighed. 'Claire, I-'

'he promises nothing will happen, and has he ever broken a promise?' Laura interrupted, slightly irritated.

'I won't let anything happen,' Jason promised.

Claire sighed and passed him her baby.

'Just be really careful, okay? Make sure-'

'Claire,' Jason said patiently. 'remember who you're talking to.'

'right,' she smiled weakly. She kissed her baby's forehead and walked to her tent.

'what was that about?' Laura asked.

Jason didn't reply, just looked down at his nephew and sighed.

--

'so where'd you disappear to?' Aryel asked.

'hmm?' Roxy muttered, preoccupied.

'okay, seriously. What's up with you lately? First you disappear when Boone and I were dying, then you yell at Locke, and then you punch Locke. What is going on?'

'I disappeared to find...something.'

'something?' Aryel raised an eyebrow.

'okay, someone,' she corrected herself. 'I was trying to find...Them. the Others.'

'Roxy, sweetie,' Aryel faked a smile. 'sometimes your judgement is severely impaired. _This _is one of those times!'

'I found them,' Roxy said calmly.

'what?' Aryel asked in shock.

'I found them. Told them you and Boone were injured and they said that if you were meant to die then, they couldn't help you.'

'and they let-'

'that's not the huge part. The one who told me this...she's my mother.'

There was a beat of silence.

'come again?' Aryel asked.

'Rina Morel, the woman I've been trying to find for years, she is on this Island. Her name is really Katarina Morel, and she goes by Kat now.'

'you found your mother?' Aryel asked.

'yeah,' she smiled.

'your mother is an Other?'

'yeah. So is my sister.'

'you have a sister?'

Roxy nodded. 'it's Josie.'

'that traitor?' Aryel raised an eyebrow.

'yeah.'

--

'Charlie?' Yoon asked curiously, looking at Charlie, who was holding Claire's baby, trying to get him to stop crying. 'what are you doing?'

'well, you see, Laura and Jason went off to go find you, because Turnip Head needs a blanket, and you're the only person with blankets small enough, on account of you have a baby too.'

'oh, do I really?' she said sarcastically. She walked closer to him, and held her daughter in only one arm, looking at Claire's baby and touching his skin with her other hand. 'I think he's too cold.'

'hence the reason they're getting a blanket,' Charlie nodded.

Yoon smiled and looked across the beach, to where Jason and Laura were walking, looking for her.

'JASON!' she yelled. He turned and looked at her. 'INFIRMARY!'

'THANK YOU!' he yelled back.

A few minutes later, Jason and Laura walked back. Jason took the baby from Charlie and wrapped the blanket around him. The baby stopped crying.

'how are you so good at this?' Laura asked Jason.

'I just am,' he muttered.

--

_Eight years later, Yoon walked down the streets of Sydney, Australia. She looked around her and smiled. Chin had transferred her here, and not the rest of the cell. The rest of the cell was undergoing training, training that she had already done. So it would be a full six months before she was joined by her team._

_A man, a man on a phone, accidently walked into her._

'_oh, excuse me,' the man said. He took a look at Yoon and stopped talking on his phone. 'I'm going call you back, okay?'_

_Without waiting for an answer, the man closed his phone._

'_I'm sorry, Miss,' he smiled at her. 'I wasn't watching where I was going.'_

'_it's okay,' Yoon said._

_He smiled. 'what's your name?'_

'_Yoon-Cha,' she said. 'and you?'_

'_Ryan,' he smiled. 'where are you from? China? Japan?'_

'_Korea,' she said. 'and you are American, yes?'_

'_I am,' he said. 'umm, I usually don't do this, but would you like to go out with me sometime?'_

_Yoon, despite herself, found herself nodding. 'I would.'_

'_well, what's your number?'_

_She gave her number and the two of them said their goodbyes, coming to the conclusion that Ryan would call her._

_Yoon smiled as she continued walking._

_Her phone went off._

'_yeboseyo?' she said. There was a long pause. 'hello?' she tried in English this time._

'_I was just checking to make sure you didn't give me a bogus number,' she heard Ryan say. 'I thought you did at first, but-'_

'_I always answer first in Korean, just so you know,' Yoon interrupted. _

'_right then. Want to go out tonight?'_

_Yoon smiled._

_--_

'oi, Warrior Princess!' Yoon snapped, snatching the burning passport photo out of Kate's hands.

'that's Laura's nickname, Chinese Whispers,' Kate said calmly, taking the photo back.

'whoever,' Yoon snapped. 'you're trying to get my spot, aren't you?'

'I'm sorry?'

'don't play that card on me! Michael told me you want my spot on the raft.'

'I was just asking some questions. He must have misunderstood me,' Kate said.

'look, I know why you want off this rock. You want to run as soon as we're rescued.'

'I don-'

'Kate, I'm like you. So is Sammy. And as much as I hate him, we will both do whatever it takes to keep our spots on that raft. Get Jin's spot, don't count on it though, or maybe even Luka's. Although he wants to get off this rock more than most of us. Get one of theirs. I don't care. All I know is that you won't get mine.'

Yoon started walking off.

'hey Yoon,' Kate said. 'I want your spot, I'll get your spot.'

Yoon turned and looked her straight in the eye.

'don't count on it, Austen.'

--

'Help! Help!' Walt ran into the caves.

'What's the matter?' Maya asked.

'It's my dad. His stomach is really bad,' Walt said.

'okay, well – JACK!' she yelled.

'don't yell in the caves, Maya,' Oz said. 'could cause another collapse.'

He looked above Maya, where some of the cave roof crumbled. He reached over and pulled her away from it.

'exhibit A,' he said as it fell on the ground.

'whatever,' Maya said impatiently. 'Michael, he's sick. We need Jack.'

'you go, I'll get Jack,' Oz said.

Maya and Walt ran off.

--

Shannon was folding some clothes that she had washed the day before. She was doing it to keep her mind off Boone's death.

It wasn't working.

Not only did everything she picked up have some sort of memory with it, some of it was his stuff.

Eventually, tears fell down her cheeks and she started sobbing.

But she continued to fold, her tears making the dry clothes wet again.

She felt someone sit next to her and the person gently took the latest t-shirt out of her hands.

'would...' the person said hesitantly. 'would you like...to talk about it?'

Shannon stopped for a few moments, realizing she had never heard that voice before.

She turned her head to see Michelle sitting there, and her eyes widened in shock.

And she shook her head, letting the tears fall.

Michelle simply wrapped her arms around Shannon and let her cry.

--

Jack was examining Michael.

'What'd you eat today? How much water have you had?' Jack asked.

'Uh, fruit, fish,' Michael said. '2 or 3 bottles.'

'Where are you getting that water from?' Jack asked.

'You know, the caves, like everybody else,' Michael said.

'Alright, listen, Michael, just take it easy, okay? You stay in the shade and try not to move too much, okay?'

'No. We have to launch that raft tomorrow. We have to.'

'I know you do. I know.'

--

Sammy sat down next to Yoon.

'hi, how are you, what did you do?' he asked.

'I'm sorry?' she asked.

'what did you do to Michael?' Sammy said.

'funny, I was going to ask you the same question,' she said coldly.

'what did you do, traitor?'

'what did you do, murderer?' she snapped back. 'okay, seriously, I think it was Kate.'

'what? Why?'

'she was after my spot. She was Hell bent on getting it to. She wants off this rock as much as we do.'

Sammy nodded in thought and Yoon smiled inwardly. She didn't think that. She was positive it was Sammy.

--

_Yoon smiled, her hand entwined with Ryan's as they walked down the street._

_She knew that technically this was fraternizing with the enemy, that it was wrong, but she loved Ryan._

'_so Yoon,' Ryan said. 'I was thinking...'_

'_yes?' she asked. _

'_well, we've been dating for two years and I've been thinking about how I really feel about you,' he began._

_Yoon smiled at him, encouraging him to say whatever it was he wanted to. If he broke up with her now, then she needn't kill him._

'_and I know that I love you,' he continued. 'and-' he knelt on the ground, taking her hand. '-Yoon-Cha Paik, will you marry me?' he asked, taking out a diamond ring._

'_yes,' Yoon said, before she could help herself. 'yes!' she exclaimed._

_She didn't care. They could tell her not to marry him, they could tell her to kill him, but she wouldn't kill him, she would marry him._

_For she truly loved him._

_--_

'what did you do?' Yoon stood in front of Kate.

'I'm sorry?' Kate asked.

'you poisoned Michael.'

'did I really?' Kate challenged.

'Hell, I knew you wanted that spot, I just didn't know how badly.'

'how do I know it wasn't you?'

'you don't.'

--

'hey,' Claire said to Max. 'where's Michelle? Usually she's with you.'

Max smiled and nodded to where Michelle was holding Shannon.

'is she talking again?' Claire smiled.

'she actually has been talking a bit. Started about two weeks ago. She only talks a few words a day, if I'm lucky, but she's smiling and laughing again.'

'that's good,' Claire said. 'I'm glad.'

'yeah. So am I.'

--

'so, we can't kill him, too much rebellion would happen,' Hayden said.

'not to mention he's my mother's best friend. Might put an even bigger strain on my relationship with her,' Josie said.

The two of them were lying on their backs on the floor of Hayden's house, tossing ideas about.

'we could put him in a coma?' Hayden suggested.

'and how would we do that?'

'point taken.'

'we could...' Josie rolled over on her stomach and looked at Hayden seriously. 'we could release the prisoners.'

Hayden sat up quickly and turned her head to Josie.

'you are brilliant, Josie,' Hayden smiled widely.

'I know, right?' Josie said in a mocking voice.

--

'it's in the water,' Petro said. 'it's something in the water.'

'but it's not that simple,' Maya said.

'what do you mean?' Oz asked.

'yes, we figured out why he's sick, he was poisoned. Which what does that imply?'

'uhh...'

'that there's a poisoner.'

--

'"Monster Eats the Pilot"?' Aryel laughed. 'wow, wonder where that one came from.'

'oi, don't knock it,' Charlie said. 'it's actually a good song.'

'I'm sure it is, but keep your head still,' Roxy said. She was cutting his hair. Or at least trying to, but he kept moving. Claire with her baby, Jason and Laura were also sitting there.

'So, what's the first thing you're going to do when we get rescued?' Charlie asked them.

'sue Oceanic,' Aryel said.

'hold a memorial,' Laura said.

'I'll probably find something to protest about,' Roxy shrugged.

'I don't know,' Claire said.

'what about you?' Charlie asked Jason.

Jason was staring into space, at nothing, not paying attention and not answering.

'Mate?' Charlie said. 'you okay?'

Aryel waved her hand in front of his face and then hit him when he didn't respond.

He looked around at them all. 'huh? What?'

'what's the first thing you're doing when we get rescued?' Laura asked him, looking slightly concerned about him.

'uhh...I don't know,' he said softly.

They all looked at him in concern.

Claire looked at him pityingly and stood up.

'come on,' she said. 'let's take a walk.'

He stood up and, holding her baby in one arm, Claire linked her other arm with his as they walked off.

'what's up with him?' Charlie asked. He looked straight at Laura when he asked that.

'good question,' Roxy said. She too was looking at Laura.

'that it is,' Aryel said. And again, she looked at Laura.

'what?' Laura snapped. 'I don't know. He's been like this lately. I got no idea.'

--

'I thought it would be easier, you know?' Jason muttered. 'it's been seven years.'

'yeah, but you loved her, Jason,' Claire said consolingly. 'you loved them all. You can't get over it in seven years.'

'well, how long will it take? Because I hate feeling like this.'

'what, torn apart? Heartbroken? Angry?' Claire was just fishing for random emotions, thinking he was reacting this way not because of what this day and the next meant to Jason, but because he was feeling something entirely different, guilt maybe, because of a new person.

'I'm angry. Because I love her.'

Claire just hugged him, wondering if he meant Ava still, or Laura.

--

Sammy walked up to Jack.

'How's Michael?' he asked.

'He's going to be fine,' Jack smiled.

'that's good. Listen, I think Kate poisoned Michael.'

--

Kate walked up to Petro.

'how is he?' she looked over at Michael.

'he's okay now,' Petro said.

'that's good. Listen, I think Yoon poisoned Michael.'

--

Yoon walked up to Jason and Claire.

'Jason?' she said. He turned to her and raised an eyebrow. 'I heard that Michael's okay?' she left it as a question.

'for now,' Jason said.

'that's good. Listen, I think Sammy poisoned Michael.'

--

Jack looked at Sammy.

'what? Why would you think that?' he asked.

--

Kate opened her mouth, answering Petro's question.

'because I know her.'

--

Yoon continued her explanation to Jason.

'and I know just what he would do to get off here.'

--

Jack, Petro and Jason listened as Sammy, Kate and Yoon spoke to them each respectively.

--

'because Kate,' Sammy said.

--

'because Yoon,' Kate said.

--

'because Sammy,' Yoon said.

--

'is a murderer,' the three finished in unison.

--

_Yoon smiled, her hand entwined with Ryan's as they walked down the street._

_She knew that technically this was fraternizing with the enemy, that it was wrong, but she loved Ryan._

'_so Yoon,' Ryan said. 'I was thinking...'_

'_yes?' she asked. _

'_well, we've been dating for two years and I've been thinking about how I really feel about you,' he began._

_Yoon smiled at him, encouraging him to say whatever it was he wanted to. If he broke up with her now, then she needn't kill him._

'_and I know that I love you,' he continued. 'and-' he knelt on the ground, taking her hand. '-Yoon-Cha Paik, will you marry me?' he asked, taking out a diamond ring._

'_yes,' Yoon said, before she could help herself. 'yes!' she exclaimed._

_She didn't care. They could tell her not to marry him, they could tell her to kill him, but she wouldn't kill him, she would marry him._

_For she truly loved him._

_--_

'okay,' Hayden said. 'how many prisoners do we have?'

Josie got out a pen and paper. 'okay, we got Liliana, Kallirroe and Eva in one cage. In the other cage we have Flick, Dominic, Nemo and Erica. Then on the other Island there's Emma, Zach, Jessica and Warren.'

'okay, so you wrote them all down?' Hayden asked.

'yeah,' Josie said. 'now, Erica, she's special, we better not release her.'

'same with Felicity,' Hayden agreed. Josie crossed them off.

'the ones on the other Island would be hard to get to,' Josie crossed them off. 'that leaves Liliana, Kallirroe, Eva, Nemo and Dominic.'

'Eva wouldn't go without Felicity,' Hayden said. 'and Dom wouldn't go without me,' she added.

'so that leaves Liliana, Kallirroe and Nemo...' Josie trailed off.

'should we release all three?' Hayden wondered.

'Nemo and Kallirroe have to, they were from each camp, so no matter which way they go...'

'they'll be someone who knows them,' she nodded.

'but Liliana...her wife is mourning for her at the Fuselage. It's really heartbreaking.'

'so we should release all three?'

'yeah. But not for a few days.'

_--_

Petro, Jason and Jack were standing together having a quick and quiet conversation.

'what do you mean?' Petro said. 'Kate said Yoon poisoned Michael.'

'don't trust her,' Jack said. 'Sammy said Kate poisoned Michael.'

'don't trust him either then,' Jason said. 'Yoon said Sammy poisoned Michael.'

'how about we don't trust any of them?' Petro said. 'apparently they are all murderers.'

Jack began saying something, but Jason pointed over to the raft, making Jack stop.

Kate was walking out of the jungle, talking to Sun, inadvertently heading for Yoon.

Yoon was sitting by the raft, talking to James, with her daughter in her arms.

Sammy was walking down the beach, talking to Sawyer, also heading there.

Jason, Jack and Petro exchanged a look.

Crap.

--

Sawyer tossed Michael a bottle of medicine.

'thought you might need that, Mikey,' Sawyer said.

'thanks, Sawyer,' Michael said. He looked at Sammy and Yoon. 'the two of you feeling guilty?'

'excuse me?' Yoon asked.

'come again?' Sammy asked.

'you two are off the raft,' Michael told them.

'what?' Yoon and Sammy asked angrily.

'you're off the raft,' Michael repeated.

'we had a deal, Dawson,' Yoon snapped.

'so did we,' Sammy said.

'Yeah, well, the deal ended the minute one of you decided to poison me,' Michael said.

'do you need someone else?' Kate asked him.

'yes, but not you. It was either one of them or you.'

The three spoke in unison, all saying the same thing.

'it was them.'

'I don't care who it was, I'm done with you all,' Michael said.

'and why the Hell are you done with us?' Sammy asked.

'You're a liar and a criminal, and I'm not letting you near my boy,' Michael said.

'oh, he's a criminal, huh?' Sawyer interrupted. 'He poisoned you because he's a criminal? Time to set this straight.'

He grabbed Kate's arm and pulled her over to Michael.

'Let go of me,' Kate said.

'No, look who the criminal is,' Sawyer said to Michael. 'Tell him,' he told Kate. She didn't say anything so Sawyer grabbed her bag and turned it upside down. He picked up a passport.

'Sawyer, please,' Kate said.

Sammy and Yoon exchanged a look and hid smirks.

'you all remember Jennifer, don't you?' Sawyer said. 'the woman who was murdered by Them?'

He passed the passport to Michael.

'Now what's Kate doing with poor Jenny's ID? Could it be she'd do just about anything to get on that raft? So she could get herself rescued, run off with a new identity before half the reporters in the world descend on this damn Island? She might even poison the captain himself,' Sawyer said.

'shut up,' Kate snapped. She saw Yoon smiling. 'and you too. Do you want them to know what you've done?'

'Yoon?' Sun asked.

'ooh, now ain't this intriguing,' Sammy said. 'Chinese Whispers is a criminal.'

'like you can talk!' Yoon exclaimed. She went to hit him, but he grabbed her fist. 'you murdered my husband!'

Several people gasped and backed away.

Yoon started twisting around, trying to get out of his grip, but he held her there, crossing her arms over so she couldn't move, her back against his chest, with him talking into her ear.

'yeah, I murdered your husband, and the rest of the scum who killed my sister,' Sammy said bitterly. 'but that's nothing compared to what you have done.'

'oh really?' she said, before she could help herself. She couldn't get into this. Not now. She had to get off the Island, before everyone knew.

'I may have murdered half a dozen people, but that's nothing like the possible hundreds you have killed while betraying your country,' he said.

Yoon looked over to her sister, who looked shocked and hurt.

Yoon sighed and made her adopted South Korean accent drop. 'I am not South Korean, therefore I haven't betrayed my country,' she said to Sammy.

'wait, what?' Laura, Sun, Michael, Jason, Jack, Charlie, in fact, most of the camp, asked in shock.

'not that it's anyone's business, but I'm a North Korean Operative,' Yoon said.

Jin said something in Korean and before Yoon could tell him nothing was wrong, Sun told him exactly what she had found out.

'my name is not Yoon-Cha Harper, nor Yoon-Cha Paik. My name is Yoon-Cha Gal, and I am a criminal.'

There was silence for a minute.

'well, at least she admitted it!' Aryel exclaimed to the rest of the camp. She whirled on Sammy. 'what about you? You're awfully quiet.'

Sammy sighed. 'I murdered the people who killed my sister. Yoon's husband happened to be one of them.'

'wait, that's why she attacked you?' Max asked.

'yeah,' Sammy said.

'okay, you deserved that.'

'damn right he did,' Yoon muttered, kicking Sammy's shin.

'and you, Kate?' Aryel asked. 'rumours back in Iowa were that you were wanted for murder.'

'you-' Jack asked.

'yeah, Katie and I grew up in the same town, I knew she wouldn't remember me, so I decided to keep this to myself until I needed something. Blackmail, you know.'

'Yes. I was on the plane with the Marshal,' Kate said. 'Yes, I was wanted and caught and being transported back. No matter what I say about what happened – about what I supposedly did – I'm going to jail. But I didn't poison you.'

'neither did I,' Yoon said. 'I'm a liar and a horrible person, but I didn't poison you.'

'neither did I,' Sammy said. 'I'm a murderer and a cheat, but I didn't poison you.'

Laura stalked forward and ripped the passport from Michael's grip. She stood in front of Kate and clenched her fist.

Jason grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

'you would've never passed as Jenny. She at least had a heart,' Laura said, her words laced in acid, before letting Jason pull her away.

Slowly, everyone left, apart from Kate, Sammy and Yoon.

Kate left, throwing them disgusted looks.

Sammy let go of Yoon.

Yoon began walking off but Sammy put a hand on her arm.

'what?' she snapped.

'just look at me,' he sighed.

She sighed too and turned around, looking him straight in the eyes.

He put a hand on each shoulder and looked straight back into her eyes.

'I am so sorry,' he whispered. 'I never meant to hurt you, I didn't even know you. But now that I do, I...I'm sorry for hurting you, for killing Ryan.'

She stared back at him, and Sammy wasn't quite sure how she was going to react.

She took a step forward, so she was now right in front of him.

She spoke in a soft voice, a voice so soft that with her real accent, it seemed quite spooky.

'When the time comes,' she said slowly. 'I will kill you – no, I will not just kill you,' she corrected herself. 'I will make you suffer. You will die in agony, knowing what you did to me. You will stare up at me, with your sad, pleading eyes, begging me to spare you. But I'll just stand there. And I'll enjoy every minute of it,' she said coldly.

She turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Sammy standing there.

Alone.

--

'_yes,' Hana said. 'do it.'_

_Yoon stared at her in shock. 'what?' _

'_marry him, Yoon-Cha,' Hana said. 'it will gain you trust. People suspect the ones who don't get involved with the scum.'_

'_okay, thanks,' Yoon said sarcastically. 'now I'm marrying scum.'_

'_congratulations, Yoon,' Cho said. 'wait. Am I a bridesmaid?'_

_Yoon rolled her eyes. 'but of course.'_

'_then yes, congratulations,' she smiled, giving the girl a hug._

'_your mother would be happy for you,' Chin said. 'not the outsider part, but the marriage part, definitely. Congratulations.'_

'_thank you,' Yoon smiled._

'_yeah,' Kwan said. 'what they said.'_

'_heartfelt,' Yoon said sarcastically._

'_you know we love you,' Kwan said, kissing her forehead._

_Yoon smiled at him, Cho, Chin, Hyo Ki and Kyung, all of whom congratulated her. _

_And then she shot daggers at Hana._

_What she would do to kill that woman..._

--

Jason sat against his tent, looking at a photo. The woman in the picture had long dark hair and kind brown eyes. Her smile was so genuine, as opposed to the forced smile the boy next to her had, looking bored. He had blonde hair and blue eyes so much like his father's. Jason could tell that although the boy's smile was forced, there was a spark in his eye, a smile in his eye, from the glee he felt, touching the woman's stomach and feeling a kick from inside.

Jason turned over the picture, reading the writing on the back.

_Jason –_

_This is the eight month mark. I know it hurts that you don't get to see me get bigger, with little Maddy, but don't worry, you'll be home soon, baby. And I'll give birth to our beautiful baby girl. I miss you – so does Jeremy. Ani ohevet otkha__._

_- Love, Ava_

Jason smiled sadly and looked up as Laura passed.

She gave him a smile and kept walking.

Jason sighed and looked back at the photo.

_--_

Luka was sitting by himself, on the edge of camp. He heard a sound behind him but didn't turn.

'poison work?' Josie asked.

'yeah,' Luka muttered. 'they are against each other. Michael let Sammy and Yoon stay on the raft. I wasn't kicked off for Kate.'

'so you poison your friends and sleep with your enemies...' she mused.

'you're not my enemy, Josie,' Luka said softly.

'aww, that's sweet,' she smiled, although her words were somewhat tantalizing. 'you're still my enemy.'

'thanks,' he said sarcastically. 'appreciated.'

'when will you understand?' she asked. 'I knock you back so you don't come after me again. It's for your own good.'

'what?'

'think of it like this. You are drawn to me like a moth to a flame. I am beautiful to you, you crave me; and like fire to the moth, I am deadly to you. Anytime you need help, Luka, just come to that clearing.'

She started walking back in the jungle and suddenly, Luka jumped up.

He followed her and grabbed her arm.

'what?' she asked.

'so maybe I'm drawn into the fire, maybe I'm attracted to fire, maybe I crave the burn, but know this: I like to play with fire.'

Josie leaned up and whispered in his ear.

'Yeah? Me too.'

--

**So I think this chapter was a favourite of mine because of the dialogue. And Luka poisoned Michael, which is surprising. But even more surprising: Josie supplied him with the poison! And who is this Ava from Jason's past? And Saint Roxy (as Sawyer calls her) has taken a level in badass! Punching Locke and screaming at him...classic. and Luka/Josie, stuff. And Aryel's eulogy...**

**Okay, now here's something really important:**

**If you want something to happen to an OC, either yours or someone else's, in a later season, tell me now! Because I am planning way in advance this time. For instance I know that _____ and _____ are alive in season six and ____ happens but that they ________. I know, annoying that I put that, but oh well. So if there is anything you really want to happen. Especially between pairings. **


	21. I Am What I Am

**Hey! So this is the finale part 1. Mixed flashbacks. Enjoy!**

'so you went back? Isn't it dangerous?'

Josie and Flick were walking across the Barracks, early in the morning. Most everyone had accepted the fact that Josie would let Flick out for a walk every day.

'yes,' Josie sighed. 'it's very dangerous. But...I don't know. I guess I like them. They get me. Much more than these people do.'

'fair enough,' Flick said. 'so who's Tommy Lee over there?' she asked, nodding her head towards Matt and a tattooed woman.

'Tommy Lee?' she asked, confused.

'right, Islander, not up with the pop culture. Heavily tattooed person.'

Josie looked over at Matt and the woman.

'come on,' Josie said, pulling Flick after her over to them.

'hey!' Josie called out. 'who's this?'

The woman turned around, which alerted the man to someone's presence.

'you must be the cousins,' Emmeline said dryly. 'I'm Emmeline Lefèvre. Emmy.'

'Josephine Morel,' Josie said. 'Josie.'

'Felicity Mercier,' Flick said. 'Flick.'

'oh, Josie's the jungle woman, and you're the pampered one?' Emmy asked Flick.

'I guess you could say that,' Flick said, trying to hide her irritation of people always thinking that she was some pampered rich brat.

'what would that make you?' Josie asked Emmy.

'the acrobatic one,' Emmy said.

'what does that mean?' Flick asked.

'Emmeline was a performer at a circus,' Matt said.

'sweet,' Flick said.

'what's sweet?' Izzie, in her usual eerie nature, had walked up to them soundlessly, not alerting any of them to her presence until she was standing right there. 'by the way,' she added to Matt. 'you are totally my favourite brother and I love you.'

'Izzie, I'm your only brother,' he reminded her.

'that we know of,' Izzie said.

'and why do you love him?' Josie asked.

'I'm a likable person,' Matt said.

'simple,' Izzie answered him. 'The third Morel.'

'why is that the answer to everything?' Flick asked.

Izzie turned, as if just noticing her. She looked in between Matt, Josie and Flick. She turned and looked straight at Matt. 'shouldn't she be in her cage?' she asked pointedly.

'she should,' Matt agreed, shooting Josie a look.

'I'm going, I'm going,' Josie said. 'like you guys have any authority over me,' she muttered.

'for one, we're a good ten years older than you. Two, he's a doctor, so he is intelligent. I'm a psychologist and a psycho-'

'a psycho?' Emmeline asked, amused.

'that too,' Matt muttered. 'but no. She's a psychometric.'

'a what?' Emmeline asked.

Izzie went silent and still, a smile appearing on her face.

Matt had seen that look before.

'no,' he said.

'Ma-'

'_no_,' he emphasized. 'you almost died from two, and now you want to try with the third Morel too?'

'yeah,' she said.

'why am I referred to as "the Third Morel", all the time?' Emmy asked.

'because we're something of legends around here,' Josie said.

'modesty, nice,' Emmy said sarcastically.

'Josephine, just get her back to the cages,' Izzie snapped, beginning to walk off.

'you couldn't tell from that, but she's actually really nice,' Matt said to Emmy.

Izzie yelled back at him in Mandarin, looking over her shoulder so he could see her mouth clearly.

Matt laughed at her comments and turned back to them.

'you better get her back,' Matt said seriously to Josie.

'I'm going,' Josie said, taking Flick's arm and leading her away.

'c'mon,' Josie heard Matt say to Emmy as they walked away. 'I'll give you the tour.'

'what do you make of her?' Josie asked Flick.

'she's like you, but tougher,' Flick said. Josie raised an eyebrow. 'okay, she's...darker than you.'

'so you're thinking she's the dark Morel?' Josie asked.

'exactly,' Flick said.

The two were approaching the cages now, where Hayden and Gus were, Gus questioning Erica, and Hayden talking to Dom.

Josie opened Flick's cage and put her in.

'where'd you take her?' Eva asked.

'for a walk,' Josie said. 'and we meet her.'

'who?' Eva asked.

'not...?' Hayden trailed off.

'the Third Morel,' Josie confirmed.

'the Third Morel?' Gus asked in shock, whipping around to face her.

'the Third Morel,' Josie repeated.

'the Third Morel,' Eva said angrily.

'the Third Morel,' Flick said. 'now get over it, all of you.'

'the Third Morel...' Hayden trailed off.

--

'Sun,' Yoon said desperately. 'I'm sorry, okay? I never wanted you to find out that way.'

'I cannot talk to you when you speak in that accent,' Sun said. 'it reminds me that you betrayed us.'

Yoon sighed and changed her accent to her South Korean one. 'Sun, I'm sorry. So sorry.'

'I can't talk to you when you speak in that fake accent either,' she said. 'it reminds me as well.'

Yoon sat down and took her sister's hands in hers. 'do you remember what we said to each other, the day of your wedding?'

Sun didn't say anything, just stared ahead into the ocean.

'you remember how I started telling you that I had done something wrong?' Yoon said softly.

Sun blinked, seeing where it was going.

'do you remember how you said it didn't matter?'

Sun turned to Yoon.

'because you knew I was a good person, you told me,' Yoon said softly. 'no matter what I did, you said-'

'I said that you were not a bad person,' Sun interrupted. 'I know. I was there. But I might have been wrong.'

Sun stood up abruptly and left.

'are you positive you're right?' Yoon asked after her.

_--_

'who is that?' Eli whispered a bit later as they all gathered around.

'I...I think it's the French woman, dude,' Hurley said.

'Danielle? Danielle? What are you doing here?' Sayid asked.

Danielle looked around at them all.

'sixteen years ago,' Danielle said. 'I came to be shipwrecked on this Island. At that time I was already seven months pregnant. I delivered the baby by myself. The baby and I were together for only one week when I saw black smoke – a pillar of black smoke several miles inland. That night they came, they came and took her – Alex. They took my baby. And now, they're coming again. They're coming for all of you,' she said.

'who's coming?' Jack asked.

'the Others,' she said. 'you have only three choices: run, hide or die.'

--

_Luka stood at the door to his stepsisters hotel room, watching her._

'_got enough makeup on there, Lina?' he asked sarcastically, in their native language._

'_no, I don't,' she said matter-of-factly._

'_really? Because it seems like you're trying to hide a bruise,' he walked in the room properly. 'a bruise you got, how?'_

'_oh, I fell over. You know, hit my head on the corner of a table,' she laughed nervously._

'_is that table called Petro's fist?' he asked sarcastically._

'_Luka, he doesn't mean it. He's just...'_

'_a violent person? A child abuser? And horrible person?'_

_Akilina sighed and put down her makeup. 'I'm done. Let's go.'_

_Luka sighed and followed her out._

_He really wished she would just stand up for herself for once._

_--_

Luka stood up as Josie entered the clearing.

'didn't think you'd need my help so soon,' she smiled as he approached her.

'why?' he asked angrily.

'excuse me?' she snapped.

He slammed her into a tree. 'you know what I'm talking about! Don't act innocent!'

'get your hands off me!' she exclaimed, pushing him back. 'and tell me what you're talking about!'

'I'm talking about the fact that you and your people are coming for us!' he exclaimed.

'wait, wait, wait! What?!'

'you're coming to kill us, or take us, or something-'

'no we're not! Well, we might be but this is the first I've heard of it!'

'what?' he asked. 'you're lying!'

'I'm not! Hit me as many times as you want, but I ain't lying!'

Luka went to hit her, but she flicked her leg out quickly and tripped him, kneeling on his chest.

'you'll never beat me, Luka,' Josie said softly. 'never.'

'one day, I will be the fall of you, Josephine,' he said. 'and you won't be able to stop it.'

'I'm not going to hold my breath,' Josie said, knocking him out with a sharp blow from her elbow.

She stood up and started walking through the jungle, to the beach, to the survivor's camp.

She would help them, with whatever was going on.

--

'How many of them are there?' Maya asked Danielle.

'I don't know,' Danielle said. 'I've told you all I know.'

'there has to be more,' Laura said. 'I mean, what aren't you telling us?'

'has it crossed your mind that maybe there's nothing more to tell?' Jason asked.

Laura shot him a look, and Claire put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back.

'you all have a big problem,' Danielle said. 'I can vanish into the jungle, but I'm just one person. You have forty people. Where will you hide them?'

Locke stepped forward. 'I-'

'we don't need or want your opinion,' Roxy snapped.

'let him speak,' Shannon said softly. Everyone turned to see her standing there with Michelle.

'I think I've got a solution,' Jack said.

--

'the Third Morel?' Scar snapped, turning around. 'okay, seriously, Matt! Why do you listen to your sister?'

'he listens to her, because Izzie hasn't led us wrong yet,' a man said. He looked at Emmeline. 'so you're the Third Morel?'

'I also go by Emmeline,' she said sarcastically.

'Emmeline,' Matt said. 'this is Scar-'

'that a nickname because of your disfigurements?' Emmeline asked.

'no,' Scar said angrily. 'it's Scarlett. My name just happens to be ironic to my appearance.'

'and this is Alvaro,' Matt continued. 'the three of us, plus another woman, we work on your Phenomenon, the Morel Phenomenon.'

'sweet,' Emmeline said. 'so? What can you tell me about this Morel Phenomenon?'

'nothing,' Scar snapped.

'because if we did, we'd have to kill you,' Alvaro joked.

'on second thoughts, we should tell her,' Scar said cruelly.

'oh, you're bilingual?' Emmeline asked. 'so am I. I speak bitch too!'

Matt took Emmeline's arm. 'okay! Let's go before a knife fight starts.'

--

'what...what is it?' Danielle asked. Locke had told them all about the hatch, and now they were asking questions.

'this is the thing that cost Boone his life,' Roxy said.

'Uh, question – how do we know we can all, like, fit in there?' Hurley said.

'there's no handle on the outside, means there must be another way in. Another entrance means space,' Locke said.

'uhh... what if this hatch, or whatever, is theirs?' Eli asked.

'it's not,' a voice said.

They all turned to see Josie walk out of the jungle.

'hey,' she said.

They all stared at her in shock and she crossed her arms over her chest.

'what are you doing here?' Aryel snarled.

'wait,' Roxy said as everyone looked like they were going to attack her. 'we should hear her out.'

Josie shot her a grateful look.

'I'm not sure whether my people are planning to attack, they keep me out of the loop nowadays,' she explained.

'you are one of the Others?' Danielle asked.

'yes,' she said. 'I assume you're the French Chick. Now, how are you going to do this?'

They all looked around at each other. Sammy and Yoon were arguing quietly, but no one paid them any mind, they were always arguing.

'Yoon has plastic explosives!' Sammy exclaimed to them.

Yoon hit him. 'Sammy!' she hissed angrily.

'don't know why that surprised me,' Charlie said. 'with the whole spy thing.'

'oh, you guys now know she's a North Korean Operative?' Josie asked.

'how do you know so much about everyone?' Jack asked.

'we have files on you all. Your lives, everything,' she said.

'doubt it,' Shannon said.

'Shannon Rutherford, 20, dance instructor. When you were eight your father remarried, thus making Boone Carlyle your stepbrother. You-'

'okay, I get it,' she said.

'wait...' Roxy said. 'you know everything about us all?'

'yes, Roxanne Marino, or to be more accurate, Rosanna Morel. Daughter of Katarina Morel, sister of Josephine Morel. And oh my God, that's me,' she said.

'you guys are sisters?' Hurley asked. 'dude...'

'and Hugo Reyes, worth a lot of money, was in Santa Rosa-' she continued.

'dude,' Hurley said, cutting off.

'how much?' Oz asked.

'Oz Geller, bassist of Twice Shy, used to be engaged to the singer of Crest of Spin,' she continued.

'really? They're good,' Deniz said.

'Deniz Sahin, daughter of Devika Sahin and Adem Patel.'

'how-' Maya began.

'and Maya Sahin, sister of Devika.'

'okay, we-' Jack began.

'Jack Shephard, brother of the guitarist of No Fury, Hayden.'

'wow,' Laura said. 'I have a new respect for you.'

'Laura Britt-'

'okay, we get it!' Jason exclaimed. He turned to Yoon. 'plastic explosives you say?'

'not enough to blow open a hatch!' she exclaimed.

'well, where can we find some dynamite or something?' Kate asked.

'Scoresby...' Josie muttered in thought.

'what's that?' Sawyer asked.

'Scoresby,' she said louder.

'is that supposed to mean something to us?' Jack asked.

'no. Arlene Scoresby, she lives out in the jungle by herself.'

'I have come across her a few times,' Danielle said.

'that's all well and good, but why are we trusting her?' Laura asked, looking at Josie. 'if Jenny taught me anything, it's that trust has to be earned. Sure, in the past jungle girl over there earned our trust, but she broke that trust as soon as her people took Erica and Claire, as soon as they knocked out Max and stabbed Jason, as soon as they killed Jenny. So yeah, we can say that that wasn't her, it was the people she's with, but she infiltrated us, she let us trust her, and then she betrayed us, and she knocked out Luka – which speaking of him, where is he?' she added on the end.

'right here,' he walked out of the jungle. 'jungle girl over there knocked me out.'

'you attacked me,' she shrugged.

'Laura's right,' Jason said. 'we can't trust her.'

'yeah, I'm standing right here,' Josie said.

'she lies to us all for weeks-'

'it was two,' she interrupted.

'-kills one of us-'

'I didn't kill her.'

'-comes back and expects us to trust her?' he asked.

'yeah,' she said. 'and you want to know why? Because we have prisoners. And a few of us are going to release them.'

Everyone went silent.

'prisoners?' Kate asked.

'yeah. From your flight,' she said. 'Kallirroe Mellas-'

'we never had anyone-' Jack began.

'you guys weren't the only survivors,' Josie said. 'and you all remember Nemo, right? Or have you forgotten? Erica, she's heavily guarded, I cannot get to her without her being hurt. Evangeline Mercier-'

'my mom?' Lucy asked, her eyes wide.

'yeah, Lucy,' Josie smiled. 'your mom.'

'we can't trust her,' Jason and Laura repeated in unison.

'look, I don't know why everyone trusts you two,' Josie snapped. 'you both killed a man!'

'Ethan was one of them – one of you!' Laura exclaimed.

'so? That doesn't mean he didn't have a life, a family! Ethan was _this close_,' she held her fingers half an inch apart. 'to asking his girlfriend of four years to marry him. That woman is torn apart – because of what you did,' Josie said.

'where did the French Chick go?' Charlie wondered suddenly, stopping the increasingly awkward conversation.

They all looked around to see that she wasn't there.

'so?' Josie asked. 'want to get started?'

--

_Maya turned the phone in her hand, every now and then throwing it in the air and catching it._

'_what are you doing, Chachi?' Deniz asked._

'_waiting for a call from your father, Deniz,' she replied, not stopping in turning the phone._

_Suddenly, the phone went off and Maya opened it, putting it to her ear._

'_Adem Patel, you better have a good reason for this,' she hissed into the phone._

'_I can't do it anymore, Maya,' Adem said. 'I can't.'_

'_you can't? You can't?' she exclaimed angrily. 'well, guess what? I can't do it either! You should've just tried to find Devi!'_

'_I can't do that either. Devika is borderline crazy!'_

'_only because you made her that way! She's a mother, and you took her child from her. Of course she went crazy. But then again, she's not crazy, she just does crazy things to get her child back. Adem, please. Where are you?'_

'_about to get on flight,' he said. 'I can't help you, Maya. I can't put her in that danger if she's with me.'_

'_but Dev-'_

'_and I can't put her in that danger if she's with Devi, either,' he said. 'you are our last hope for her to grow up normally. Okay?'_

_He hung up and Maya threw her phone across the room in frustration._

'_what's wrong, Chachi?' Deniz asked._

'_nothing. We're just going to take a flight, okay?'_

_If Adem wouldn't come to her, she would have to go to him._

_--_

'hey, dude,' Hurley said to Luka. 'where you going?'

'to the caves, to get water for the raft,' he said.

'oh, okay, dude,' he said.

Luka started walking into the jungle. After maybe a minute he heard someone behind him.

'what do you want, Josie?' he asked, turning around, only to be met by her lips on his.

'stay safe on that raft, okay?' she said softly.

'don't blow yourself up,' he replied.

Josie walked back out onto the beach and Luka sighed.

He would definitely be burnt.

--

'Look, I know you're all scared. And I know everybody has a lot of questions. All I can tell you right now is that we do have a plan. We've got to go into the jungle to get some supplies. We'll be back in a few hours. In the meantime, do everything you can to help Michael get that raft on the water. And after that, go to the caves. We'll be back as soon as we can. I promise,' Jack said.

Everyone nodded and dispersed.

Oz walked over to Jack.

'so I want to come,' he said.

'what?' Jack asked in surprise.

'on your little mission to get the dynamite,' he elaborated. 'come on. For old time sake.'

Jack sighed. 'we leave in ten minutes.'

--

Oz walked over to Maya.

'hey, Maya,' he smiled. 'are you coming with us?'

'to get the dynamite?' she asked. 'yeah.'

'well, do you think we should get someone to look after Lucy and Deniz?' he asked. 'I don't really know...I don't actually know anything about being a parent...'

'it's okay, you don't have kids,' she shrugged.

'actually... I have a son, but I didn't know about him 'til right before the crash. Do you have kids?' he asked.

'no, I can't have kids,' she said. 'which is ironic, because one of my sisters is a fertility doctor, and my other sister, I've been a mother to her daughter lately.'

Oz smiled. 'so...'

'Roxy,' she nodded.

--

Charlie walked around, collecting messages for the bottle.

Roxy passed hers to Charlie. 'don't read it,' she added.

'course not,' he said, opening it.

'Charlie, I said not to read it!' she exclaimed.

'sorry. You okay, Roxy? You haven't been yourself lately...'

'well, I found out my mother is an Other, my sister is an Other, I am the reason Boone is dead, in a sense, well one of the reasons, and my best friend almost died too. So yeah, I'm different. Go away.'

Eli walked over to Luka.

'so you're really doing this?' he asked.

'what?' Luka asked, confused.

'you're really going to let this thing between you and Josie be left up in the air?'

'yes,' he said. 'I am.'

'stay safe, man,' Eli said, giving him a hug.

'yeah, you too,' Luka said. 'you have a problem with clumsiness. Don't drop the dynamite.'

'never.'

'come on!' Josie exclaimed. 'if you wanna do this tonight, we better leave now.'

She looked at Luka.

'hope you drown,' she said.

'hope you blow yourself up,' he countered.

Eli looked in between them, not knowing that they had said their real goodbyes earlier.

'let's go,' Jack said.

Eli, Maya, Oz, Hurley, Kate, Locke and Jack followed Josie into the jungle.

--

_Josie walked back into her house late at night. A light flicked on in the kitchen and Kat was standing there._

_Crap._

'_good morning, Josephine,' Kat said, for it was that late that it was the next day, crossing her arms over her chest._

'_morning,' Josie said casually._

'_Josephine, why? Time after time I tell you it is not safe outside the Barracks, especially at night, and yet you still go.'_

'_oh, isn't it safe? I've never had a problem with outside the Barracks at night. I guess I'm _special_!' she exclaimed, mocking her mother._

'_you are special, you could be great! If you stopped stuffing around and accepted it.'_

'_no, you need to accept that I ain't ever gonna live up to your expectations! I will never be good enough for you, and I'm not going to try to!'_

'_this isn't about that, Josephine! It's about the carelessness you display when you leave the Barracks!'_

'_I don't even want to be here, at the Barracks! It's so confining, I want to be free! Free of everything, free of everyone!'_

'_what is that supposed to mean?'_

'_it means that I don't want to be stuck here forever, like you have! I want a life, damn it! I want to live my life, but you won't let me! Everyone elses parents do, but you don't! You suck at being a mother, and I wish you weren't mine!' she yelled._

'_oh, well, you wouldn't have even been here to yell like this, if it weren't for me! Years ago, they, the Hostiles, wanted to kill you! They wanted to kill you, along with the rest of the Dharma Initiative! Maybe I should have let that happen!' she exclaimed angrily, before immediately putting a hand over her mouth. 'oh...'_

_Josie stared at her in shock._

'_yeah, maybe you should have,' she said softly. She went to the door, and opened it, leaving._

'_Josephine-' Kat said, following her to the door._

'_no, we're good, Kat,' Josie said, putting up her hands in defeat, closing the door. She leaned against the door and cried softly._

_On the other side of the door, Kat did the same._

_--_

Josie stopped in the middle of the clearing, making everyone else stop with her.

Josie put her hands to her mouth, letting out a bird call.

'what are-' Jack began.

'did you need something, Josephine?' a voice asked, walking into the clearing.

The speaker was a woman, with unruly, long, dark hair and pale skin, a rifle in hand.

'I did, Scoresby,' she said. 'firstly, if my mother, or anyone else for that matter, asks, you never saw me today, or these people, okay?'

'fine,' she said.

'secondly, where do you get your dynamite from?'

'the _Black Rock_,' she answered.

'where's the _Black Rock_?' Josie asked.

'in the Dark Territory,' Scoresby said.

'whereabouts in the Dark Territory?' she asked.

Scoresby took out a bunch of maps, and started drawing on one. Finally, she passed it to Josie.

'we are here,' she pointed to a place she had circled. 'the _Black Rock_ is here. The dynamite is inside. It is very unstable.'

'thank you,' Josie said.

The woman didn't say anything, just turned around and walked into the jungle.

Josie turned to the others. 'okay,' she said. 'let's get moving.'

--

'why are you making a tent, when we're going to leave soon anyway?' Yoon asked, walking over and watching James construct his tent.

'well, who knows how long it will take for you to get us rescued?' he said.

Yoon smiled.

'so, my sister hates me, her husband hates me, Sammy hates me, a lot of the others hate me,' Yoon said.

'what am I, your therapist?' he asked sarcastically.

'just work with me here,' she said.

'okay, well, who cares if most of them hate you? They don't know you, they don't know the full story. And Sammy, why do you care about him? From what I've seen, he's a jackass. Your sister's husband, I thought you hated him? And your sister, she's the only real problem here,' he said.

'that made me feel a bit better. Thanks,' she smiled.

He turned to her. 'Yoon...be careful on that raft, okay?'

'I will,' she said. 'you be careful too, okay? I spent a long time making sure you didn't die, and if you do when I'm not here, I'll bring you back just to kill you.'

James laughed. 'I'll try my best not to die.'

She leaned and gave him a quick kiss before walking away.

--

Lucy and Deniz walked up to Walt.

'bye, Walt,' Deniz said.

'we hope you get us rescued,' Lucy added.

In unison, the two girls hugged him, making Walt look a bit shocked.

'see?' Luka said when the two girls left. 'girls dig the heroes.'

'hey, what are you teaching my son?' Michael asked.

'how to get the ladies,' Sammy explained.

Yoon laughed, having just walked over. 'funny, I don't see any ladies lining up to say goodbye to you,' she said.

'I don't see _anyone _lining up to say goodbye to you,' Sammy countered.

Yoon looked over to see Jin and Sun kiss.

'not even your sister,' he added.

Yoon sighed. She couldn't leave like this.

She started walking over there.

_--_

Yoon sat down next to Sun. Sun started to stand up, but Yoon grabbed her arm, keeping her there.

'look, I know you don't owe me anything,' Yoon began. 'but I have to ask you a huge favour.'

Sun didn't say anything.

'could...could you look after Min-Hee for me?' she asked.

Sun turned to her suddenly. 'what?'

'you're the only one I really trust here, and I know you don't trust me, but I wouldn't worry about her if she was with you. And-'

'okay,' Sun said. 'I don't trust you, and I don't forgive you, but she is just a baby. Okay. I'll look after her.'

'thank you,' she smiled. 'and, I'll look after Jin out there.'

'you don't even like him,' Sun said.

'you're my sister. I don't have to like him, but I have to look out for him.'

Sun smiled. 'thank you.'

Yoon smiled back before turning to her daughter in her arms.

'sweetie, you're going to go with Aunty Sun for awhile, okay?' she said in Korean. 'but it will be okay, she loves you too,' she looked at Sun and mouthed the words "I think?" at her. Sun smiled and nodded. 'and she'll take real good care of you, while I'm off trying to get us rescued. Okay? I love you, sweetie.'

She turned to Sun. 'so if she starts crying, and you can't figure it out, either a) go find someone who has a kid, or b) sing to her in Korean. It gets her to quiet down, and she usually sleeps. Thank you Sun.'

'it's my pleasure,' she smiled.

'okay, we're ready to go!' Michael called out.

The two sisters stood up and Yoon pressed a kiss to her daughters head, before passing her to Sun. The two walked to the raft, and everyone began to push it in the water.

Yoon kissed her daughter one more time, brushing tears from her eyes, and got on the raft.

As the raft went further out onto the water, Sun and Jin shared a long look over the water. Yoon looked at James and smiled, who smiled back. Sammy looked in between them.

Luka searched for the familiar blonde, but of course he couldn't find her.

And black smoke rose somewhere on the Island.

--

'no,' Jack said. 'we're not letting a kid carry the dynamite.'

'I'm sixteen,' Eli said. 'and besides, I drew the short straw.'

'it's only fair,' Maya said. 'we did all make a deal. So it's me, Eli and Kate carrying them.'

'fine,' Jack said.

'are you sure?' Josie asked Eli.

'yeah. It will be fun,' he smiled.

'your funeral,' she shrugged.

'you're morbid,' Maya said. 'none of us are gonna die.'

--

_This was not a good day._

_Eli had, by all accounts, had the worst day, no the worst week._

_First was he had twisted his ankle and broken his nose, and was now sporting two black eyes._

_And then he was being sent home from his school trip, because his parents were way too protective of him._

_So he had been going to the lobby of the hotel, and the elevator broke down. No problem was his first thought, someone would get it running again in ten minutes flat._

_Four hours later and he finally got out of the elevator, missing his flight._

_So he had gotten a new flight, Oceanic Flight 815, and he had stayed up in his hotel room until two hours before the flight. And then he had walked down the stairs, not game enough to try the elevator._

_And wouldn't you know it; he tripped down the stairs _again_. So with a throbbing head, he had left the hotel. And his passport behind, at the stairs._

_Of course, his luck being as bad as it was that day, he didn't realize until his expensive half hour taxi ride to the airport. So he went back. Only an hour left until his flight, and he spent fifteen minutes of that arguing with the receptionist, recounting how bad his day had already been._

_With tight lips, the receptionist had passed his passport back to him. 'I don't think you're meant to fly back to America today,' he said._

_Eli was seriously thinking of ending his "never attacked someone" streak, using this receptionist as his breakthrough into violence._

_But he just breathed deeply and hailed another taxi. Another expensive half hour taxi ride later, he had fifteen minutes left to get to his flight._

_And then, he had to talk the woman at Gate 23 into believing it was really him in the picture, he just had every injury imaginable._

_Finally, after a nice encounter with a girl also on the flight, Eli sat down._

'_Dude,' the man next to him said. 'what happened to your face?'_

'Dude_,' Eli stressed the word. 'so not in the mood.'_

_--_

'hey, this is actually working,' Eli said. 'I'm not scared that I'm carrying dynamite through the jungle, to the packs, not scared at al-ahh!' he yelled out, tripping over a root.

'Eli!' Josie, Oz and Maya exclaimed in unison.

Eli tripped, landing on his knees, the dynamite flying through the air.

It started making its way to the ground, near Eli.

'ELI!' Josie shrieked. 'move!'

Eli jumped up and started running.

The dynamite exploded.

--

**God, he can do some idiotic things sometimes. Wonder who will survive the explosion?**

**Please review. Also, while I'm on the note of reviewing, I'm just going to thank Girafe13 for consistently reviewing this story! You may not know it, but your reviews have kept me going. When no one elses reviews, you always do, and it reminds me that people do read this story and appreciate it. So thank you.**


	22. Days Feel Like Years When I'm Alone

**Hey, here's the next chapter. The end of the season. Enjoy!**

'no, you know what?' Aryel said. 'I'll just stay here, on the beach. I'm good here.'

'Aryel, come on, it's not that far to walk,' Charlie said encouragingly.

'uhh, I'm not sure if it escaped your notice, genius, but I have a broken _leg_,' she emphasized her point by gesturing to it. 'and traditionally, what do people use to walk? Oh, that's right. Legs!'

'come on, I'll help you,' Charlie said, helping her stand and putting his arm around her waist. 'just use me as a support.'

'oh, yeah, great idea! And take frickin' _years _to get to the caves!' she exclaimed.

'no, look,' he said. 'everyone's leaving in an hour, if we leave now, we should get there at about the same time as them. Okay?'

Aryel turned to him and smiled. 'thanks, Charlie. You're a good friend.'

'it's my pleasure,' he smiled.

--

He was dead.

Eli was sure he was dead.

What, with the explosion, the silence, no movement whatsoever from anyone, he had to be dead.

Slowly, he cracked open an eye and looked around.

Jack, Locke, Kate, Hurley, Oz, Maya were all lying on the ground, like he was.

Josie groaned and rolled on her back.

'I vote someone else carries the dynamite,' she groaned.

'seconded,' Jack, Kate, Hurley, Oz and Maya said in unison.

Even Eli agreed.

--

'come on, everyone's leaving,' Jason said to Claire.

'Okay, well, I can't go anywhere, alright?' she snapped. 'I've got the baby, and I'm so tired, I can't carry him,' she said.

'why don't you let me help?' he sighed.

'because this hurts you,' she said matter-of-factly.

'no, no it doesn't,' he said.

'liar,' she said.

Jason rolled his eyes. 'do you want my help or not?'

'no, I don't. I have to learn how to do this,' she said.

'okay, then,' he started walking away. 'call out when you need help!'

'call out when you've snapped out of your mood!' she called after him.

--

'hmmm...' Sammy said. 'looks like Warrior Princess has hidden depths that none of us could have possibly imagined.'

He was reading through the letters, the ones from the bottle. The private letters.

'what do you mean?' Luka asked.

'"Rob, Walker and Wright",' he read out. 'I couldn't save her. I'm so sorry. She survived the crash, but" – this is really touching – "then she was mur-" hey!' ye exclaimed to Michael, who had taken the letter out of his hands.

'you shouldn't read them, they're private,' Michael said.

'yeah, they're private,' Luka agreed, but he too took one out of the bottle.

He silently read through it. 'who's Lotus?' he asked.

'what?' Sammy and Yoon asked.

'"Bae, it was me",' Luka read out loud. '"I killed them. And as soon as I'm home, I'm going to kill you too. You better start running. Lotus". So? Any ideas?'

'no,' Yoon said, way too quickly.

'no idea,' Sammy said, looking straight at Yoon.

When Luka turned to another letter, she gave a quick nod.

--

Laura sat down next to Jason, as he was looking at the photo.

'hey,' she said. She looked at the photo. 'who are they?' she asked.

Jason abruptly put the photo in his pocket, ignoring her.

'hey,' Laura said, putting a hand on his arm. 'you can talk to me, Jason. If you want.'

'well, funny that you say that. I don't.'

'Jason, I care about you. I hate seeing you like this.'

'I'm going to say this as nicely as possible,' Jason said through gritted teeth. 'piss off.'

Laura stood up and angrily walked away.

--

Shannon was pulling her bags across the beach. Michelle watched her pityingly, as she fought with them, pretending that her frustration was about the bags.

One of the bags fell, and spilled open.

'Damn it!' Shannon exclaimed angrily, kneeling down to gather the belongings.

Michelle walked across the beach to her, and knelt down, helping her.

'do you really need all this?' Michelle asked. She picked up a few t-shirts that belonged to Boone. 'aren't these-'

'I'm fine,' Shannon snatched the clothes out of Michelle's hands, packing them again. She stopped after a few seconds. 'how do you do it?'

'excuse me?' Michelle asked.

'how do you go on, like it never happened? How do you get over it? The fact she's gone...just, how do you keep living your life like you used to?' she asked.

Michelle looked at her. 'do you want the truth?'

'yeah,' Shannon sighed.

'I don't.'

--

Everyone began to leave the beach, slowly.

There were only a few people left on the beach, amongst them were Jason, Claire and her baby, plus Laura walking fast to catch up to the others.

'you know, she looks like she wants to murder you,' Claire said, watching Laura.

'yeah, she does want to,' he shrugged. Claire raised an eyebrow. 'I tried to tell her in the nicest way possible, to piss off.'

'nicest way possible?' Claire asked. 'that's the nicest way possible?'

'the nicest I can do today, okay?' he snapped.

'okay,' she said.

At that moment, Danielle ran out onto the beach.

'Sayid! Where is he?' she asked them.

'Rousseau, what's going on?' Claire asked.

'Sayid? Where is he?' she repeated.

'He already left,' Jason said.

'I need him now,' she said.

'Alright, just calm down, okay. I'll get him for you,' Jason said. He looked at Claire. 'I'll be right back.'

'okay,' she nodded as Jason ran off.

'What is his name? The child. What is his name?' Danielle asked, mesmerized by the baby.

Claire shifted uncomfortably. 'Oh, I haven't named him yet,' she said.

'May I hold him?' Danielle asked.

'umm, why do you need Sayid?' Claire changed the topic.

'You don't want me to hold him,' Danielle said.

'No, I just fed him. I don't think it's a good idea, okay?' Claire said.

'please,' Danielle said.

Claire noticed scratches on Danielle's arm, and she remembered, she had a memory of struggling with Danielle and scratching her.

'Why did I do that? Why did I scratch you?' Claire asked.

Danielle looked at her.

--

_Jason walked into his house, to almost be knocked over by someone._

'_nice to see you too, Ave,' he smiled giving her a kiss._

_She kissed him back._

'_I'm pregnant again,' she smiled happily._

'_really?' Jason asked, smiling widely._

'_well, I need to wait for the test to finish, but I'm like ninety nine percent positive I'm pregnant!' she exclaimed._

_Jason put his arm around her._

'_well, how long until the test is done?' he asked._

_She pulled him down the hallway, to the bathroom, just as the alarm went off._

_She picked it up but didn't look at it._

'_oh, I can't look at it!' she exclaimed._

'_Avigail Littleton,' he said calmly. 'just look at it.'_

'_you,' she said. 'and then kiss me if it's positive. And kiss me if it's negative.'_

'_how-'_

'_I'll know,' she interrupted. She closed her eyes as he looked at the test._

_He took a step towards her and kissed her deeply, his hand on her stomach._

_Ava smiled. 'I'm pregnant,' she said happily. 'I love you, Jason.'_

'_I love you too, Ava.'_

_--_

Jason ran through the jungle.

'Sayid!' he called out when he caught up to the group.

'what is it?' Sayid asked.

'Rousseau's on the beach. She needs you,' Jason said. 'I don't know what for.'

They heard a scream and looked at each other.

Jason, Sayid, Roxy and Max sent off at a run for the beach.

Sun was kneeling next to Claire, on the ground, her head bleeding.

'Claire!' Jason exclaimed, kneeling down next to her.

'where...' she began. 'where's my baby?'

Jason looked around for the child, to see he wasn't there.

'Is he alright?' Claire asked.

Jason looked at Sayid murderously.

'you brought her into the camp!' he exclaimed angrily. 'this is your fault.'

'look, there's no use arguing and placing blame,' Roxy said.

'blame for what? Where is he? Did she take my baby?!' Claire asked angrily.

'don't worry,' Jason said. 'we'll get him back.'

--

'we can't just sit around,' Layla announced.

Everyone in the room looked at her, most of them turning back to whatever they were doing.

'no, I'm serious,' she said. 'we can't just sit here and do nothing each and every day.'

Libby stood up. 'I agree,' she said. 'we just do the same old thing each day. We go and fish for food, and we cook it. We can't just do the same thing day in and day out for the rest of our lives.'

'well, what can we do?' Erin asked.

'we can explore,' Ashley stood up. 'maybe there's other places like this.'

'and maybe They will take us,' Ana Lucia said.

'those in favour of exploring?' Ashley asked.

Layla, Ashley, Serena, Nicanor, Mindy, Libby and Lucian raised their hands.

'then let's go exploring,' Ashley smiled.

--

'"You were wrong",' Luka read out. 'ok, go.'

'...Maya?' Yoon asked.

'it's totally Eli,' Sammy said.

'wrong and wrong,' Luka said. 'it's Roxy's.'

'guys, those are private,' Michael said, taking all the letters away from them. 'you can't use their thoughts as a game.'

'whatever,' the three sighed.

Michael walked to the other side of the raft.

He wondered why he had let three of the most morally misguided people on the raft with him and his son.

--

'I'm coming with you,' Claire announced. Laura and Sun were behind her.

Jason laughed, shortly, falsely and bitterly. 'oh, you're serious? No.'

'This is my baby, okay? I let her take him,' she exclaimed.

'hey, Claire,' Max said. 'it's going to be alright.'

Claire hit him. 'don't say that! How do you know?!'

Max took a hold of her arms.

'Calm down!' he exclaimed.

'I am going to come with you. This is my fault and I'm coming and you can't stop me!' she exclaimed.

Jason took a step forward and put a hand on her shoulder.

'it's alright, Claire,' he said.

Claire looked at him. 'get him back, Jason,' she said tearfully. 'get Aaron back.'

'Aaron?' Jason asked, smiling.

'Please, get him back,' she repeated.

'Claire, I will get him back,' he said.

He turned and followed Roxy and Max.

Jason turned and looked back at Claire.

'I Promise.'

--

After a break, Maya, Kate and Locke picked up the packs carrying the dynamite.

'The sun sets in 90 minutes, give or take. If we want to get back to the Hatch we're going to have to hustle,' Josie said.

'okay, this is how we'll do this,' Jack said. 'I'll lead, Kate you're behind me, then Hurley and Eli. Maya, you can go next, with Oz and Josie behind you. Then Locke will bring up the rear.'

'what if one pack blows?' Josie asked. 'we'll all be pink mist.'

'pink mist?' Eli asked.

'it's what the professionals call it when you blow up. All that is left is a pink mist of blood,' Maya said.

Eli paled significantly.

'okay, we'll spread out,' Jack said. 'keep a safe difference.'

'no,' Josie said. 'you guys keep a safe distance.'

'what?' Eli asked.

'I have to go back to my people,' Josie said. 'they will be getting suspicious.'

'you can't-' Jack began, but was cut off by whispers.

"_I'm here to help you...."_

"_don't leave!"_

"_...they're coming..."_

"_...don't trust him..."_

Jack, Eli, Maya, Oz, Hurley and Kate looked around as they heard the words fly around them in phantom voices.

Locke however, stared straight at Josie as she left the clearing.

--

'okay, can we just rest awhile?' Aryel asked desperately. 'I feel as if I'm about to collapse, and you look like you will.'

'come on,' Charlie encouraged. 'it's just around this corner. Another minute.'

'fine,' Aryel sighed and they continued on.

Sure enough, as Charlie had promised, they came across the caves. They entered and collapsed near the waterfall, taking a drink.

Aryel turned to him and smiled.

'I know I'm a bitch, and most people don't want to spend time with me, and they think I'm being insincere when I'm not,' she began. 'but...thank you. I mean it.'

'it's okay, it was my pleasure,' Charlie said.

Aryel leaned over and kissed his cheek.

--

_Six months had passed, and Jason was working at a hospital now, as an intern. He was down in the ER, working on people as they came in._

'_hey, Littleton!' one doctor yelled out. 'we got two burn victims coming in. A Jane Doe and her son.'_

_Jason followed the doctor to the ER doors, and went to the ambulance._

_The back doors opened, and the woman was wheeled out, burns over half of her body, including her pregnant stomach._

_Jason stared at her in shock._

'_okay, get her to Trauma Room 1,' the other doctor said. 'Littleton? Hey, Littleton!'_

_Jason finally managed to speak._

'_that's not a Jane Doe,' he choked out. 'that's my wife.'_

_The doctor wheeled her into the Trauma Room after getting over his shock, and Jason stood outside it, in a daze._

_They wouldn't let him in, the damage was that bad._

_When his son was wheeled in, burns not as bad as Ava's, but still bad, he watched as they tried to save his son too._

_Finally, he heard the dreaded words from the room with Ava in it._

'_time of death, 8:15pm,' the doctor said._

_Jason was crying, not believing Ava was gone._

_He turned around and looked through the window, seeing her lips blue, the machine showing her flat line._

_And he put his fist right through the window to the room._

_Everyone jumped, and security came to take him away, but he didn't care._

_Ava was dead._

_And nothing else mattered._

_--_

'what is this?' Max asked, looking at the plane in awe.

'this is where Boone died,' Roxy said.

'how?' Max asked.

'he was in the plane, it was up on that cliff, and he found a transceiver,' she explained. 'he was trying to contact someone to save us. The plane shifted and Aryel climbed up to get him. And...'

'it fell,' Max finished quietly.

'yeah.'

'guys,' Jason said. 'this is a touching moment and whatever, but we have to keep moving.'

Roxy sighed, and looked down, seeing the transceiver on the ground.

She picked it up and followed them.

--

'so, what do you think is inside?' Hurley asked.

'what?' Eli asked.

'inside the Hatch.'

'uhh, stuff?'

'stuff?'

'yeah, like food and water, and stuff we need,' Eli said.

'stuff we need?' Maya asked. 'we have stuff we need at the caves.'

'okay, then maybe stuff we want,' Eli said.

'like what?'

'warm beds,' Oz joined in.

'hot showers,' Kate said.

'processed food,' Eli smiled.

'like Twinkies,' Hurley said. 'Twinkies keep for like eight thousand years, man.'

Locke laughed.

'well, what do you think is inside?' Maya asked.

'Hope. I think hope's inside,' Locke said.

'deep,' Oz muttered sarcastically.

--

Michael sat down and started talking to Jin about the notebook he had.

Jin looked confused, and Yoon turned around, instantly translating.

'he's asking if Sun made it for you,' she said in Korean.

'oh,' Jin said in English. 'yes. Sun.'

'so you could learn English?' Michael asked.

'yes. English,' Jin said.

'Yeah, I wish she had made one for me. So what words are in here? English words - what can you say?'

Jin thought. 'Ah, starboard, aft, port, sail, eat.'

Yoon smiled. 'you're lucky to have her,' she said in Korean.

--

Josie walked across the Barracks, having an internal battle with herself. Should she tell them? They were still her people, even though she often betrayed them to the survivors.

She looked up and saw her mother at the cages with Emmeline, and she sighed, walking over there.

'hey, Josie,' Flick smiled.

Josie didn't spare her a glance and spoke.

'mom,' she said.

Kat whirled around, knowing it was serious just because Josie didn't use her name.

'what is it?' Kat asked.

'the Fuselage survivors...' she trailed off. 'they have a raft.'

'what?' Kat asked angrily.

'they made a raft, and they set sail this afternoon,' she said.

The prisoners all looked at Josie in surprise. They had long ago come to the conclusion that Josie was on their side.

'thank you,' Kat said before walking off.

Josie waited until she had left before turning to the prisoners.

'I know what you're thinking,' she said. 'but I needed to get them all distracted.'

'why?' Eva asked.

'Erica, Flick, you guys have to stay for your own good, but by the time I come back in half an hour, I expect the rest of you to have chosen.'

'chosen what?' Dom asked.

'which three of you I'll be letting go.'

--

At the caves, Aryel grabbed James's arm and pulled him down next to her.

'uh, hi?' James said. As far as he could remember, the only time Aryel had spoken to him, was to yell at him to move out of her way.

'yeah, hi,' she said hurriedly. 'where's Roxy?'

'you haven't heard?' he asked, surprised. 'apparently the French Woman took Claire's baby, and Jason, Roxy and Max are out in the jungle, looking for her and the baby. Aaron.'

Aryel looked over to where Claire was sitting by herself, worried.

'what a freak. Who takes a baby?' she asked. 'bitch.'

'look who's talking,' James muttered.

'oh, piss off,' she snapped. 'actually wait – help me over there.'

James sighed and pulled her up roughly, helping her walk.

--

James sat Aryel down next to Claire.

'need anything else, Princess?' James asked.

'yeah,' Aryel faked a smile. 'I need you to piss off.'

James scowled at her and left.

'Aaron's a nice name,' Aryel said to Claire. 'it suits him.'

Claire didn't say anything.

'hey, they will bring him back,' Aryel said.

'Don't say that,' Claire said softly.

'they will,' Laura said, sitting down.

'How do you know that?' Claire asked.

'simple,' Aryel said.

'because he said he would,' Laura said.

'and he's never broken a promise to you,' Aryel finished.

Claire looked up at the two of them and smiled.

--

'...15, 16, 23, 42,' Hurley muttered. '4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42, 4, 8, 15, 16-'

'you say something?' Kate asked.

'huh?' Hurley asked.

'I heard 4,' Eli said.

'I heard 8,' Oz said.

'I thought I heard 16,' Maya said.

'yeah, I heard 23,' Kate said.

'Do they mean something to you?' Hurley asked.

'I was stuck in an elevator for 4 hours, making me miss my original flight,' Eli said.

'I've got 4 sisters,' Maya said.

'I'm the oldest of four,' Oz added.

'I was married for 4 months,' Kate said.

'my band had 8 hits,' Oz said.

'which is how many nieces and nephews I have,' Maya said.

'and how many days I was in Australia for,' Eli said.

'and the number of times I've evaded the law,' Kate added quietly.

'16 is how many countries I've travelled to,' Maya said.

'and how old I am,' Eli added.

'the first time I ran away from home,' Kate said.

'when my band started,' Oz said.

'The guy who called the Feds on me, back in Australia, did it for a 23,000 dollar reward,' Kate said.

'I'm 23,' Maya said.

'how old I was when I got engaged,' Oz said.

'and how many different illnesses my mom thinks I have,' Eli said. 'which I don't have any of them.'

'dude...' Hurley trailed off. 'that's crazy that you all have something to do with those numbers.'

'not really,' Maya said. 'do you have anything associated with them?'

'Nah, it's just a number. We better catch up – can barely see them,' he said.

--

Roxy looked around her. She had stopped for just a moment, to tie a shoelace, and they had disappeared.

It was silent.

The wind picked up and she shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.

The wind howled, and she heard voices, but she wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not.

'we...find...back,' one voice dropped in and out, the wind carrying only part of the sentence.

Roxy wasn't sure if people were actually speaking, or if it was those whispers she had heard about.

'...agree...' another voice said. '...safe...'

'h-hello?' Roxy called out nervously.

She took a nervous step forward and heard it.

The unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked.

--

Jason and Max looked around.

'where's Roxy?' Jason asked suddenly.

'I don't know, she was right behind us,' Max said.

'Roxy!' Jason called out, turning around.

He suddenly stopped, seeing Danielle there.

A dying Danielle at that.

--

Josie, Emmy and Hayden quickly walked back to the cages.

'so?' Josie asked. 'have you figured it out?'

'my idiot of a mother,' Flick began.

'Felicity, I am staying for you,' Eva cut her off.

'yeah, well, I can look after myself,' Flick snapped.

Emmy tilted her head to side and looked at Eva.

'you look exactly like my mother,' she said.

'I know,' Eva said.

'and mine,' Josie said. 'so who is going free?'

'well, I'm not,' Dom said.

'then I guess it's you three,' Hayden said.

'so where do you want to go?' Josie asked. 'Tail of Fuselage?'

Liliana looked at her and spoke up. 'my wife...Michelle.'

'she's at the Fuselage,' Josie smiled.

'I got no one from that plane,' Killy said. 'I'm happy to go to the Fuselage.'

'I was from the Fuselage,' Nemo said. 'I'm good there.'

Liliana smiled happily. 'thank you.'

Josie passed them a map to the Fuselage. 'I can get there in a few hours, but I know this Island like the back of my hand. You three, it should take a day, maybe a day and a half, if you don't run. Which, I wouldn't if I was you. Too many things could go wrong. Cliffs, stuff like that. Just, take your time.'

'okay,' Killy said.

'and here's some food and water,' Hayden said, passing them a bag. 'and there's some blankets, some matches, stuff like that. Oh, and a knife, just in case.'

Hayden and Emmeline started unlocking the cages as Josie continued to speak.

'also, tell them that I live up to my word,' Josie said.

Killy and Liliana gave Eva a hug each.

'thank you for making this bearable,' Eva said to them.

'same to you,' Killy smiled.

The three women embraced again, before Liliana and Killy left the cage.

The two of them and Nemo started leaving.

Hayden looked thoughtful, knowing they had forgotten something.

'wait,' she said. They stopped. 'there's a fence.'

'oh shit, almost forgot about that,' Josie said.

'a sonar fence. The code is 1516,' she said. 'go.'

--

After hours of walking around the jungle, Layla looked at Ashley.

'okay, so we've found nothing,' Layla said to her.

'except trees,' Mindy put in. 'lots and lots of trees.'

'yes, that,' Layla smiled. 'but it's getting dark, and cold, and we should just find our way back to camp.'

'I agree,' Libby said. 'it's not safe to be out here at this time of night.'

The others all nodded, agreeing, but suddenly, a voice was heard.

'H-hello?'

Ashley cocked the gun and they all stepped forward, towards the voice, Layla and Libby pushing Mindy behind them.

'who's there?' Ashley called out.

'show yourself!' Serena added.

Out of the trees walked a blonde woman.

She looked at them, almost scared, and turned to run.

Instead of shooting her, Ashley ran forward, tackling her to the ground.

'get off me!' the woman exclaimed.

'don't speak!' Ashley exclaimed, putting a finger to the woman's lip.

She looked over her shoulder at the others. 'what are we going to do?'

'Ana,' Layla said uncertainly.

'again, get off me!' the woman exclaimed.

Ashley swung around and hit the woman square in the face.

The rest of them moved forward, and the woman, with blurred vision, looked at Mindy.

'Lucy?' she asked before passing out.

--

'can you take these extra sticks back a couple hundred yards, El- Hugo?' Locke asked.

'Me?' Hurley asked. 'Oh, okay. Got it.'

Jack passed him the pack. 'be careful.'

Hurley walked away.

'Kate, Oz, you run the fuse,' Locke said. 'Jack, Maya and I will rig the charges.'

'Eli – just stand there,' Jack said, about to give him an instruction, but remembered how he dropped the dynamite.

'okay, I'm good with that,' Eli said.

--

'_Avigail Littleton, Ava,' Jason swallowed back tears. 'she, she was one of the best people – one of the most caring people the world has ever had.'_

_He put a hand on the closed casket. 'we met eight years ago, and I just knew – I knew one day I'd marry her. I...loved her. And now....now she's gone. She didn't deserve this, damn it!' he almost yelled, tears down his face. 'she was pregnant, eight months pregnant with our second child, Madeline. And she didn't make it either... she...she,' he sighed, trailing off._

'_Ava's spirit, happiness and all around joy for life...it won't be forgotten. Ever. I'll remember, even after I've forgotten everything else. I guess...I guess she's in a better place now. A better place with Jeremy...' he trailed off before beginning again. 'Jeremy...'_

_He found he couldn't say anything else about his family, about his dead family and he walked down the aisle of the church and out the doors, crying._

_He continued walking, hoping that it was all just a dream._

_--_

'Danielle?' Max asked, approaching her. 'where is he?'

'a hundred yards,' Danielle said softly. 'that way,' she pointed.

Jason went in the direction she pointed.

'I was attacked,' Danielle told Max. 'by the monster.'

'oh,' Max said.

'I just wanted my Alex back. I thought if I gave them the baby...' she trailed off.

'It's okay. I know. It's okay,' Max said.

'I heard them whispering,' Danielle said. 'I heard them say they were coming for the child. The Others said they were coming for the boy.'

Danielle let out a shallow breath and gasped.

'Alex...' she trailed off, her eyes going distant.

Max leaned down and closed her eyes, just as he heard a sound.

He turned around to see Jason and Aaron.

'is she dead?' Jason asked.

'yeah,' Max said. 'she said the Others were coming to take the boy.'

'she was insane,' Jason said. 'c'mon. We should bury her.'

--

Lani sat up straight in her bed, breathing deeply, her heart beating wildly. Next to her, Richard sat up and put a hand on her face.

'more dreams?' he asked softly.

'yeah,' she nodded. 'I think I should go to the Temple,' she added.

'what?' he asked in surprise.

'maybe they can help me,' she said.

Richard nodded as she stood up and began to pack a small bag of supplies.

'they are the professionals when it comes to the past, after all,' Richard said. 'or at least Gin is.'

'that's what I was thinking,' she said, slipping her shoes on.

She leaned across the bed and gave him a kiss.

'if I'm needed for anything, just send word,' she told him.

--

'this is as far as it goes,' Kate told Jack, Locke and Maya as they approached her.

'It's far enough. I'll light it. You take cover, there'll be enough burn time for me to get clear,' Locke said.

Kate, Eli, Oz, Jack and Maya walked further back.

'Hurley!' Jack called out.

'Wait just a sec,' came Hurley's reply.

Jack turned to the Others. 'Look, if we survive this, if we survive tonight – we're going to have a Locke problem. And I have to know that you've got my back.'

'uh, sure,' Eli said.

'okay,' Maya shrugged.

'sure,' Oz said.

'I've got your back,' Kate told him.

'Are we ready?' Locke called out.

'Wait a sec, wait a sec!' Hurley yelled out. He saw the numbers on the Hatch. 'no! Stop! Wait! We can't do this! Stop! Don't light it! Stop! Wait!' he began running to Locke.

Locke lit the fuse.

'The Numbers are bad. Stop. What are doing? Why did you do that?' Hurley yelled.

The dynamite exploded.

--

The radar began to make a noise.

Everyone on the raft turned to it.

'is that...?' Yoon began.

'something's out there,' Michael said.

'it's getting closer,' Sammy said. 'fire the flare.'

'Hold on a sec,' Michael said. 'we only have one flare.'

Jin began talking in Korean.

'what is it? Is it a ship?' Walt asked.

'We don't know, little man. We don't know,' Michael said.

Jin and Michael started having a quick conversation.

'starboard? Port?' Jin asked.

'Port,' Michael said.

'Hey, Mikey, you and Jin wanna slow down and talk to the rest of us?' Luka exclaimed. 'we have to fire it.'

'We don't know what it is. It could be anything – a piece of floating junk. We don't even know if Sayid's radar works,' Michael said.

'Sayid's a genius. If something he built doesn't work, than it's probably because someone broke it,' Yoon said.

'It's moving away,' Walt announced.

'please, God,' Michael said before firing the flare.

--

Claire, Laura and Aryel had taken to staring at the entrance of the cave, waiting.

At that moment, Max and Jason entered, Jason with Aaron in his arms.

Claire jumped up and ran over to them, taking her son out of Jason's arms and hugging him too.

Laura followed her and smiled at them.

Several more people followed them.

Aryel continued to stare at the cave entrance.

'thank you, thank you,' Claire repeated over and over, hugging Max now.

'hey!' Aryel called out. Everyone turned to her. 'this is sweet and everything but where is Roxy?'

Everyone fell silent.

'uh, we don't know,' Jason confessed.

'what do you mean you don't know?' Aryel asked calmly.

'well, Roxy kind of just disappeared,' Max said.

'kind of just disappeared?' Aryel asked, jumping up. 'how do-AHH!' she exclaimed in pain, almost falling over until Charlie caught her.

'how could you lose her?' Aryel asked weakly.

**--**

'It's coming back. It's coming back,' Walt repeated.

Everyone began laughing and yelling out happily.

Yoon hugged Michael, Jin and Luka, she even hugged Sammy.

They were finally being rescued.

--

'Ana Lucia!' Lucian walked into the bunker and looked at her. 'we found one of Them.'

Without waiting for them to follow, he went back outside, to where the woman was just regaining consciousness.

Behind him, Ana Lucia and Constance ran out.

Ana Lucia walked to the woman and roughly pulled her up so she could see her face.

'who are you?' Ana Lucia asked ruthlessly.

'Roxy?' Constance asked in shock.

Everyone else looked at her in shock.

'Constance?' Roxy asked blearily. 'oh my God, I thought you died.'

'yeah, I thought you did too,' she said. She saw the looks the others gave her and explained. 'she was on the plane. Sat next to me. She's not one of Them.'

'wait...' Layla said. 'does this mean there are other survivors?'

--

A boat. It was a boat with four people on it, two men and two women. At the front was a woman with long brown hair and extremely dark eyes. She smiled.

'what are you doing so far out?' she asked.

'we were in a plane crash!' Yoon exclaimed.

'Oceanic 815!' Luka added.

'we've been on an Island!' Michael exclaimed.

'there's a whole group of us!' Sammy added.

'that is interesting,' the woman said. 'but we're going have to take the boy.'

Michael stared at her. 'what?'

The woman's smile grew wider. 'the boy. Walt.'

'what the Hell's going on?' Michael demanded. 'who are you people? How do you know his name?'

A man with a beard stepped forward. 'just give us the boy.'

The other two stood up.

'I'm not giving you anybody,' Michael said defiantly.

'you shouldn't have said that,' the second woman smiled widely.

The light from their boat went off.

In the dark, a shot was heard, and Sammy fell in the water.

Yoon and Jin dove in after him, as Michael and Luka fought with the two men.

The first woman grabbed Walt and pulled him onto the boat.

'Dad! Dad!' Walt yelled out.

'no!' Michael yelled.

Michael and Luka were pushed into the water.

The second woman threw something at the raft as they took off.

'WAAAAAAALT!!!'

The raft exploded into flames.

--

_Jason was sitting in the back of the church, long after the service for his wife and son was over. He had been sitting there for hours, just holding his wife's wedding ring._

_He heard the sound of high heels on the floor, and he looked up to see his mother walking towards him._

_His mother, who he hadn't spoken to in three years, had come to the service._

_She quietly sat down next to him._

'_it was a beautiful speech,' she said, breaking the silence._

'_why are you here?' Jason asked icily._

'_for you, Jason, for you,' she said._

'_no you're not,' he said, abruptly getting up and walking out of the church, again._

_He stopped suddenly when he saw who was standing outside the church._

'_hey,' Claire said softly._

_And with that, Jason let her wrap her arms around him, holding him as he cried._

--

'so you got him back,' Laura smiled at Jason, who was sitting next to Claire and Aaron.

Jason was staring into the fire moodily. Claire looked at him in sympathy.

'okay, fine, you know what?' Laura said. 'be an ass.'

She turned to walk away and Jason grabbed her arm to stop her. 'I'm sorry,' he told her. 'It's just...'

Claire silently stood up and left with Aaron, leaving them in relative privacy.

'a few weeks ago, you asked me if I was married,' he said. 'and I was. To a woman named Ava. We met in high school and we had a child together. Actually, we had two children. Jeremy and Madeline, although I never met my daughter,' he said, taking a picture out of his pocket.

He showed it to her. It had a heavily pregnant woman with black hair and a small boy with blonde hair with her.

'this is the last picture I have of them,' he continued sadly. 'One day when I wasn't home, there was a fire. That was seven years ago exactly, yesterday. Ava and Madeline, they died on the day of the fire. And Jeremy, he died of his burns the day after. Seven years ago today,' he said softly, looking at the photo.

Laura had a hand to her mouth, looking at him in shock. 'Jason...'

'that's why I've been pushing you away,' he continued. 'I can't bear to feel anything like how you make me feel, it hurts way too much, reminding me of last time I felt like this.'

'okay,' Laura nodded in understanding. She stood up to leave but thought better of it and turned around to face him again.

'You have some real problems,' she said softly. 'Problems that make you hard to understand. You've suffered a lot, and you take your past out on people. I-'

'I just tol-'

'yeah, I know you just told me, I'm trying to piece together my thoughts,' she said.

'okay,' he said.

She took a deep breath. 'I don't know what to make of you hating everyone, and I'm sorry that all that happened to you. If I wasn't completely insane and masochistic, I would give up on you. But I am insane and masochistic. I want to help you, because as crazy as it sounds, I really do like you, and it kind of hurts to see you like this.'

Jason looked at her. 'I...I'm not sure how I feel about you. But if I lost you, I don't know what I'd do. If it was my fault... I think I'd probably go crazy.'

Laura looked at him and he took her hand, gently pulling her down to sit next to him again. He silently pulled her closer and leaned down, giving her a quick kiss.

Laura let her head fall on his shoulder and they sat in silence.

--

Jack and Locke peered into the hole. It went on and on in darkness, a broken ladder down one side.

Eli, Kate, Hurley, Maya and Oz stared at the Hatch door.

In huge letters it had a word on it.

"QUARANTINE."

--

On the other side of the Island, Izzie started plotting the fall of Ben.

--

Josie sat by Josh and Carlos, watching the security videos with them, attempting to find the "escapees".

--

Esther began packing away some of Ethan's possessions.

--

Krist, Scar, Alex, Karl, Peter, Rachel and Elliot sat around a table, playing poker.

--

As the boat made its way back to the Island, Krist turned around and looked at the burning raft in the distance.

'you think it was wrong?' Bracken asked.

'they could die,' he said.

'they weren't on the list,' Cam said coldly from the front of the boat. 'they're fair game.'

--

Lani entered the Temple, and several people turned to her.

'Gin was right,' a man said. 'you were on your way.'

'hello, Giliam,' she smiled. 'I need help.'

--

Gus walked into Hayden's house. She turned around and looked at him.

'did you...?' he began.

'help them escape? Yeah,' she sighed.

Gus walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

--

Matt sat and watched as Emmeline read a book.

'what?' she asked.

'nothing.'

--

Kat read through file after file, trying to find a doctor from the flight with any amount of knowledge about spine tumours.

--

Max and Michelle were playing word games on Michelle's notepad.

--

Lucy and Deniz were lying on their stomachs, giggling and talking to each other.

--

Claire sat with Sun, talking as they held Aaron and Min-Hee.

--

Aryel was writing frantically in a notepad, having just hit inspiration. Charlie sat down next to her, and passed her a mango. Aryel looked at him and back at her notepad, before closing it. It could wait.

--

Eli and Shannon were sitting side by side, in a companionable silence.

--

Erica, Flick, Eva and Dom were talking, trying to think of ways to escape.

--

Jason and Laura were now talking, Jason still holding Laura.

--

Petro and James were collecting firewood.

--

In the jungle, Liliana and Killy were sleeping around a fire as Nemo sat and watched for any unwanted company.

--

Induala, Lucian and Akilina sat in a corner of the room, talking in low voices.

On the other side of the room, Libby, Erin, Nicanor, Cindy, Serena and Bernard sat, some of them talking.

In another corner, there was Leonard, Jonas and Eko all sat silently.

In between the three groups, Layla, Ana Lucia and Constance talked to Roxy, asking questions.

As they talked, Constance would every now and then look down at Mindy, who was sleeping next to them.

'where's Ashley?' Libby called across the room.

All of them looked around.

'I think she went out for some air,' Induala said.

--

Out in the jungle, Ashley wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm as she headed back to the bunker.

She heard whispers around her and she nervously looked around.

When she turned back to look in front of her, there was a huge cloud of black smoke.

She didn't move, didn't even breathe as it surrounded her.

She saw white flashes, and within them, images. Images of her life.

When the smoke started getting closer to her, constricting her, she began to fight it.

It only got tighter.

And she screamed.

--

Devika and Adem sat on a couch in a room, going over the files of the people they had recruited already.

'Charlotte Lewis, Daniel Faraday,' Adem was saying. 'Abegaila and Maleah Kalani, Naomi Dorrit, Lara Swan, Lauren Terry, Martin Keamy, Frank Lapidus.'

'we just need a few more,' Devika said.

She put down the files in her hands and looked at him seriously.

'Adem,' she said. 'could I ask you a question?'

'if it's "how did you survive the gunshot?" than no,' Adem said.

'it's not. Why...why did you give our daughter to my sister?'

Adem blinked; surprised she was asking that of all things. It was Devika for you, though, always surprising.

'Devi, you and I have dangerous jobs,' he said. 'it would pose to much of a threat for Deniz is she was with either of us. I was doing it for her.'

'really?'

'really.'

'Sitara is under the impression that you thought I was a bad influence and that I was crazy. Which wouldn't be too much of a stretch.'

'you're not crazy, Devika,' Adem said, turning to her. He moved a bit closer to her. 'I just use that as an excuse.'

'an excuse for what?' she asked.

'why we broke up. When really it's because I was so scared of loving you like I do, that I had to get out.'

'did,' she said suddenly.

'what?'

'scared of loving me like you did. Not do...right?' she added.

Adem looked slightly uncomfortable. 'yeah...' he said distractedly. 'right. Did.'

Devika was quite surprised by his reaction.

'Adem? Do you still love me?' she asked suddenly.

'what?' he laughed.

'do you still love me?'

'...no.'

'good,' she said, leaning closer to him. 'so if I did this...' she kissed him passionately. '...it would mean nothing to you?'

'no,' he struggled to control himself. 'nothing at all.'

She smiled. 'good. Because I don't love you either.'

--

**Ahh, Devika and Adem, very stubborn people. And Jason/Laura for the win. But also, poor Jason in his past. Charlie/Aryel... I'm quite loving Aryel with a broken leg. Her outbursts are funny, only because she will jump up and scream in pain. God I'm a sadist... And oh no, Ashley's in trouble. And Roxy's with the Tailies now. Wow, quite a few things happened.**

**Please review!**

**P.S. I still have a poll on my page for this story. It's about Pairings.**


	23. Darkness Descending

**Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

She looked around the room, taking in all the different types of people around the table, some of them talking to the people next to them, and some of them sitting there, staring straight ahead, not making any eye contact.

In the back corner, two women who looked alike and a man were sitting, talking.

The man grinned and held out his hand expectantly.

The younger of the two women started laughing as the older one looked at him in disdain, dropping keys into his hand.

In the other back corner, a pale woman and a Latina were sitting and talking in low voices.

She continued looking around the room, seeing that they were only missing one person, the place to her immediate right.

On her other side there were two women talking, having just met. One of them was a loud British woman, and the other was a very straightforward Irish woman.

The door on the other side of the room opened, and the last person walked in, passing a British red head, an Asian man, a man who looked a bit crazy, a calm raven haired woman, a blonde woman with an icy look, and a scruffy looking man, on his way to the only remaining seat.

'good to go?' he muttered in the ear of the woman next to him.

'we are,' she muttered back, as the man picked up the files. As he placed a file in front of each person, the woman said each of their names.

'Lauren Terry,' she said. 'Olivia Piersol. Charlotte Lewis. Miles Straume. Daniel Faraday. Angelica Lefèvre. Lara Swan. Frank Lapidus. Maleah Kalani. Lars Entesano. A-'

'how are you, Dollface?' the man, Lars, asked her charmingly.

'call me Dollface again-' she began to threaten him, but the man with the files put an arm on her shoulder, pulling her back.

'Devika,' he warned.

She sighed. 'Abegaila Kalani,' she continued. 'Maritza Muzquiz. Lorraine Rogers. And the man next to me is Adem Patel.'

'and she is Devika Pate-'

'Sahin,' Devika interrupted. 'changed my name.'

'okay, not Patel. Devika Sahin,' he rolled his eyes. 'really? You changed your name? When?'

'not the time for this, Adem,' she sighed. 'so-'

'Patel to Sahin?' Maleah asked. 'does that mean you guys used to be married, or what?'

Devika and Adem looked at each other.

'moving on,' they said in unison.

'so,' Devika began again, almost daring them to interrupt again. 'you have all been selected to be a part of a research... expedition, I guess you'd call it. We are travelling-' Adem got out a map of the Pacific and pointed to the area. '- here.'

The Latina sat forward in her seat. 'yeah, hi, I'm-'

'Maritza, right?' Adem asked.

'yeah, call me Mimi,' she said. 'I'm a cartographer. And I can tell you that there is nothing there.'

Adem looked at her earnestly. 'but what if there is?'

'but there ain't,' the girl next to Mimi said.

Adem turned to her. 'Lorraine?'

'Rain, yeah,' she said. 'I have also studied maps extensively, and there ain't nothing there. It's just a whole lot of ocean.'

'as far as you know,' Devika said.

'what the Hell you on about?' Rain asked. 'you're not making any sense.'

Devika and Adem exchanged a look and sighed.

'this is where it gets complicated,' Adem said.

--

'_Addison Vance,' Sammy's mother said. 'Addie to us. She...she was my baby girl. Addie was the sweetest girl you could have ever hoped to meet, she brightened the lives of everyone she knew – at least she brightened my life. She was only fourteen, fourteen, when she...' she took a deep breath. 'Addie was full of goodness, and she was going to be great. Now...now my son, Addie's brother, Samuel, would like to say a few words.'_

_His mother looked at him expectantly. _

'_no,' he found himself saying. 'no, I won't be.'_

'_Samuel-'_

_Sammy ignored her and walked out of the church, away from the funeral, away from the death that could eventually be traced back to his fault._

_--_

'Ashley!'

She was aware of her name being yelled, aware of it, but she was not able to answer the call as she just lay there.

Her mouth was dry; it made it hard to talk. 'he...help,' she whispered hoarsely, but her attempts were futile, she knew no one could hear her.

She was aware of pain; she could feel pain, an unimaginable pain down her back, stopping before her legs. Maybe her legs had been ripped off in the struggle with smoke.

But no, she saw her legs, bloody as they were, connected to the rest of her body. Despite the pain, she sighed in relief. At least she was in one piece. Even though the bone was sticking out of one of her legs, she was in one piece.

'Ashley!'

Even though she was covered in blood, she was in one piece. She couldn't feel her legs, or her left hand, and her left arm felt as it was crushed.

She took small, shallow breaths and she heard a gurgling sound, a sound she couldn't place. After hearing it, breath after breath, every breath significantly more difficult than the last, she looked to see blood all over her chest, and she thought maybe, just maybe, the blood was in her lungs, that's what was going on.

And then she knew.

She knew she was going to die.

'Ashley!'

She couldn't fight it anymore.

'help,' she murmured, as she let the darkness descend on her.

--

This is your fault!' Michael exclaimed angrily.

'oh, really, genius?' Luka snapped angrily. 'how the Hell is this my fault?'

'you made me fire,' Michael said.

'newsflash! Yoon made you fire! Yoon and Sammy! Don't blame me! Where the Hell are they anyway?'

--

'how's your arm?' Yoon broke the silence.

'like you care,' Sammy snapped.

'why'd you help Michael out, trying to make sure they didn't take Walt?' Yoon asked.

'why'd you?' he shot back.

Yoon didn't reply.

_--_

'Dude, don't get too close,' Hurley said. 'you might fall in.'

'I'm not going to fall in,' Eli said as he looked down the Hatch.

He took another step forward and Maya pulled him back, only a split second after he stumbled.

'you said you wouldn't trip with the dynamite too,' she reminded him. 'yet you did. So to be safe, I'll just pull you back whenever it looks like you're going to do the exact thing you said you wouldn't, okay?'

'okay,' he mumbled, walking back to Hurley.

'4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. 4, 8, we're dead, 15, doomed and dead, 16, 23, 42...' Hurley was muttering, fast.

Maya and Oz exchanged a look, trying not to laugh. 'psycho,' Maya muttered.

Oz smiled and nodded slightly.

'how far down do you think it is?' Kate asked.

'fifty feet tops,' Locke said. ' If we could use the wire we pulled from the fuselage – rig up a harness...' he trailed off.

'John, we're leaving now,' Jack said.

'Yes, good idea. Let's do that,' Hurley said quickly.

'Jack, seriously, it's awesome,' Eli said. 'why are we leaving?'

'Look, if you want to go exploring in the morning that's fine, but tonight we're done. I'm going to go get the dynamite that we didn't use and we're heading back to the caves. How about you pack it up, John?' Jack said.

'sure,' Locke said, surprising everyone else. 'of course.'

And with that, he followed Jack out of the clearing.

--

'_you're seventeen.'_

'_you're a genius,' Sammy said snidely._

_It didn't bother him that he had blood oozing from his black eye as he sat across from a cop, it didn't bother him that he was in an interrogation room, a cop wondering why a seventeen year old was in a bar._

'_Samuel Vance,' the cop continued. 'you're seventeen and you got into a fight at a bar.'_

'_he started it.'_

'_you broke that man's nose,' the officer said. 'and knocked out another man.'_

'_shouldn't have gotten in my way.'_

'_you know where you're heading to?' the officer asked. 'prison, if you're not lucky.'_

_Sammy just shrugged._

_He knew he should realize that prison was the last place he would want to go, but ever since his sister's death...he just didn't feel anything, he hadn't cared about anything._

_So he shrugged._

_--_

'okay, here's the deal,' Aryel began hopping across the caves to Jason and Laura.

'you're going to hurt yourself,' Charlie told her, immediately putting his arm around her waist, helping her over.

Jason looked at her.

'so, contrary to popular belief,' Aryel said to him. 'I have a heart, and Roxy, she... I love her, okay? She's my best friend, one of my only friends, so I'm gonna ask you once, calmly, before I start yelling and hitting. What the Hell went on out there and where is she?'

Jason grabbed her arm and gently pulled her down. 'you have to sit down before you hurt yourself,' he said.

'answer my question,' she said.

'we were looking for Aaron,' Jason said. 'and I guess she got too far behind. Max and I didn't notice for awhile, and when we did, we called out for her, and there was no answer. So your guess is as good as mine.'

--

'I don't trust her,' Ana Lucia said to Jonas.

The two of them were watching Roxy and Constance talk to each other animatedly.

'neither do I,' Jonas told her. 'it seems too unbelievable. Other survivors? It just-'

He was cut off when the door of the bunker flung open, crashing against the wall, and Layla ran in.

'Layla!' Nic exclaimed. 'what's wrong?'

'oh, God,' Layla murmured, shocked. 'she...Ashley...'

'what happened?' Ana Lucia asked. 'was it them? Did they take her?'

'no. No...she wasn't taken. She...she's dead,' she announced.

Everyone looked at her in shock.

'what?' Libby finally asked. 'no. She- she can't be dead. She just went for a walk. She can't be dead. There is no way.'

'what did they do?' Constance asked. 'how could they just kill one of us without any warning? What kind of people are they? Killing an innocent person. They...'

'no,' Layla said. 'it...it wasn't them.'

'what?' Ana Lucia asked. 'how would you know?'

'because...she...she...' Layla found she could not find any words to describe what she had seen; the scene was just too horrifying.

Induala put an arm around her, comforting her.

'could you show us where she is?' Constance asked.

Layla tearfully nodded.

--

Josie knocked on the door of Hayden's house, and waited. She knew. She knew that Kat suspected her, but Kat wouldn't say something to Ben. Rumours had been going around the community that one more strike, and Josie was gone. She had cost them so much over the years, and not to mention that she was a Morel, and that didn't sit well with the rest of the community.

The door opened and Gus looked at her.

'how and why did you rope her into this?' he asked, letting her pass.

'how do you know that she didn't rope me into this?' Josie asked.

Gus laughed. 'please.'

'no, seriously,' Josie said. 'how do you know?'

'because I know Hayden,' he said simply. 'and I know you.'

'but-' Josie began.

'and you like to make life difficult for everyone here,' he said.

'so true,' Hayden said. 'so, Josie, rumour has it that I'm being sent over to Hydra.'

'cool. Who's over there? Warren? Emma?'

'I think so,' she smiled. 'I'll try, don't worry.'

Gus gave Hayden a sideways look, and knew he couldn't whisper what he wanted to, to Josie. Hayden's sharp hearing would pick it up.

So he picked up a notepad and did the one thing she hated.

He communicated silently, writing and showing Josie.

_You are __not__ going to rope her into this again. You have Kat covering for you, she has no one. Don't._

Josie pursed her lips and looked at Gus.

She nodded.

--

'I know what I saw,' Shannon repeated loudly.

'uh no, no you didn't,' Laura said, clearly bored by the conversation.

'I heard whispers,' Shannon said.

'lack of sleep.'

'really loud, all around.'

'first sign of madness.'

'it must have been them.'

'who?'

'I don't know – Them.'

'exactly. You _don't_ know.'

'look, I know what I saw, okay?' Shannon snapped.

'and I know a crazy person when I see one, okay?' Laura said.

'these are the people who killed your friend, or don't you remember?'

Laura's eyes flashed in anger, and Jason pulled her back before she even moved forward.

'let's all just calm down,' he said.

'they're back,' Charlie said suddenly, looking to where Jack, Locke, Kate, Hurley, Eli, Maya and Oz were walking in.

The group looked in between Shannon with her arms crossed defiantly, and Laura being held back by Jason.

'uhh...' Eli began. 'what's going on?'

'I saw Erica again,' Shannon said.

'she _thinks _she saw Erica,' Laura said.

'no, if she says she saw Erica, I believe her, and you all should too. Something is wrong with these...natives, and Erica is not alright. You might all think that, but she's with a group of evil people. So if she appeared to Shannon, then I believe her.'

'wow,' Aryel said. 'look who grew a spine.'

'at least I can walk,' Eli said.

'and a pair,' Aryel muttered.

'Uh, Locke and Boone and Aryel and Roxy, they all found a hatch in the ground about a half a mile from here. We left to blow it open so that we could hide inside – so all of us could hide inside, in case... But that doesn't matter now because it's not going to work. There's no way for all of us to get down in there tonight,' Jack said.

'Jack, where's the traitorous bitch?' Jason asked bluntly.

'she left,' Eli said. 'back to her people.'

'Did you see them? Did you see the Others?' Shannon asked.

'Hey, Shannon, there are no Others. We've already had this conversation,' Charlie said.

'What the hell would you know about it – just because you didn't see anything?' she said.

'there's no one-' Laura began.

'you don't know-' Charlie began at the same time.

'just because-' Jason began too.

'you need to belie-' Shannon continued.

'come on, she really-' Eli began.

'she didn't see-' Maya began.

'SHUT UP!' Aryel yelled, making them all go silent. 'just everyone, shut up! Usually I'm all for fighting, it actually amuses me a lot, more than it should actually... anyway! Tonight is different. I'm gonna state the facts we already know, and I'm sorry if I'm too blunt about a delicate subject, but that's just the way I am. Okay?'

There were a few mumbles of confirmation that she could do that.

'so, we crashed on an Island, and we're stranded in the middle of nowhere, and it sucks, but that's life, right? And some of you have been tortured-' she looked at Sawyer and Sayid. '-and some of us have been betrayed-' she looked at Eli and Sun. '-and some of us have healed-' she looked at James. '-and some of us gave birth-' she looked at Claire. '-and some of us found love-' she looked at Laura and Jason. '-and some of us have opened up. I know I have,' she smiled at Charlie. 'so it all seems nice and whatnot, but it fucking sucks here.'

Maya gave her a dirty look and looked pointedly at Deniz and Lucy.

'right. Kids here. My bad,' Aryel said in a semi-apology. 'so Jenny died,' she said bluntly. 'well, she was murdered. Our first death since the crash, and it was horrible. And Erica and Claire, they were taken. And Jason and Max, they were left for dead. And so was Luka. We got Claire back, but not Erica, and Claire gave birth, the night Boone died, and the night I almost died. We have seen life and death here. We have seen betrayal, we have seen love, we have seen hate. We have seen a frickin' smoke monster! It's not unreasonable to assume that Shannon is right!'

'thank you!' Shannon exclaimed.

'shut it,' Aryel said. 'it is not unreasonable, but none of us want to believe it. Come on, seeing someone who is gone? Someone appearing and disappearing with a bat of an eye? It is supernatural. It...it's kind of creepy, actually. Might make for a good book... anyway, this Island... it...it's different. And...if someone – anyone of you – say you see Erica...I'll believe you.'

Shannon smiled at her.

'everything's going to be okay,' Aryel continued. 'we're all going to be alright. We'll all stay here tonight. We got a Hell of a lot of guns, Laura, Jason, I'm not even gonna ask how many you got between you. We'll have some lookouts, right Jack?' she said.

He nodded. 'we're gonna be safe, as long as we stay together,' he said. 'the sun will come up in three hours, and we're all going to be here to see it happen.'

'apart from Roxy,' Aryel said.

Jack looked at her. 'what?'

'Roxy disappeared,' she said, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Jason.

'well, the rest of us, we will all be here to see the sun come up. I promise,' he added, before seeing Locke carrying cable from the fuselage. 'John, what are you doing?'

'I'm going to the Hatch,' Locke said matter-of-factly. 'I'm going in.'

'that doesn't seem to smart,' Charlie said. 'hole leading nowhere.'

'you're right,' Locke said. 'the safest thing is to stay here, to wait for morning, wait for Them, to see if they ever show up. Wait the brave folks on the raft to bring help – but me? I'm tired of waiting.'

Locke started leaving.

'me too,' Aryel stood up and promptly sat down again, rubbing the pain in her leg. 'you know what? Tell me all about it.'

Locke smiled at her and left.

--

They had buried her.

Lucian and Nic, they had buried her, and Libby had said a few words.

Layla had been staring straight ahead since she had told them of Ashley's death, completely mute since then. That had been four hours ago.

Libby sat down next to her and held her hand.

And Layla just stared.

--

Kate, Maya and Oz all picked up their bags in unison, from three different parts of the caves.

They met in the middle.

'he can't do this alone,' Oz announced to them.

'why do you think I got up?' Kate asked.

Maya smiled. 'I think this will be fun.'

'me too!' Eli exclaimed, joining them.

They turned and stared at him.

'what?' he asked.

Maya pursed her lips and turned to Oz and Kate. 'Eli wants to climb down a hatch, and says nothing will go wrong...'

'Eli wanted to look down the hatch, and said nothing would go wrong...' Kate mused.

'Eli wanted to carry the dynamite, and said nothing would go wrong...' Oz trailed off.

'guys, come on,' Eli begged.

'Eli will fall,' Maya said.

'Eli almost fell,' Kate said.

'Eli almost died,' Oz said.

And with that, the three left the caves.

--

'how the Hell did you get the gun?' Michael asked.

Luka looked at it. 'oh, this?' he twirled it around in his hand. 'found it in the water. Guess Yoon was so concerned with helping the man she hates that she didn't realize she lost it.'

'she doesn't hate him,' Michael said.

'she just acts like it. I know,' he said.

'That thing ain't going to work, anyway,' Michael pointed out.

'It'll work,' Luka said.

--

'_oi!' the guards yelled. 'Ford! Vance! Break it up!'_

_Sammy and Sawyer ignored the guards and continued laying into each other._

'_make another comment like that and I'll knock your head so far off your shoulders-' Sammy began threateningly. _

_Sawyer cut him off, punching him square in the face._

_The guards were running towards them, if they continued then it would quickly turn into a riot like event at the prison._

_The guards pulled them apart and Sawyer and Sammy glared at each other._

'_I'll get you back, Vance,' Sawyer muttered._

'_like to see you try.'_

_--_

'you don't care for anyone,' Sammy said.

'what are you getting at?' Yoon asked.

'so how come you tried to save the kid?' Sammy asked.

'look...' she sighed. 'if...if something happened to my daughter...if anything happened to her and no one tried to stop it...look. Walt's a kid. He needs to be saved.'

'okay,' Sammy said. 'fair enough.'

'I thought so. But tell me, why'd you? You have even less of an idea than me of what it feels like to care for someone.'

Sammy sighed, running a hand through his hair.

'can you help me take this bullet out?' he asked.

'only way I can help with that is with my bare hands,' Yoon said. 'you good with that?'

'yeah,' he said.

Yoon moved closer to him, right in front of him, and put a hand to his shoulder.

As she dug into the wound, he started yelling in pain.

'shut up,' she said.

'well, I'm sorry, but I'm getting a bullet pulled out without any medication. So if you got a better idea-'

Yoon roughly kissed him, kissing him passionately as she dug the bullet out.

Once it was out the two didn't stop kissing for a minute.

Finally, when they did, Sammy looked at her.

'want the bullet?' she asked.

'got a band-aid?' he asked.

--

Claire hesitantly sat down next to Laura.

'can I ask you something?' Claire asked.

Laura nodded.

'do...do you really like him?' Claire asked, nodding her head towards where Jason was filling up water bottles.

'yeah,' Laura smiled. 'yeah, I really do.'

'okay,' Claire smiled. 'just... don't hurt him, okay? He has been through enough already.'

'I know,' Laura said. 'I won't hurt him. At least I won't do it on purpose, okay?'

'okay,' Claire nodded. 'thanks.'

--

Liliana poked her.

Killy didn't respond.

Liliana tapped her shoulder.

Killy didn't respond.

Liliana shook her.

Killy didn't respond.

'I'm gonna go out on a limb, and say she's dead,' Nemo said dryly.

'Liliana will be in a second,' Killy mumbled, her eyes closed.

'wake up,' Liliana said.

'I'll kill you,' Killy mumbled.

'ooh, that's ironic,' Nemo said. 'someone called Killy killing someone.'

'ooh, original,' Killy muttered. 'never heard that one before.'

'he's perceptive, isn't he?' Liliana asked. 'making that connection between your name and a crime.'

'totally. Let me sleep.'

Liliana sighed and hit her.

Killy groaned but otherwise didn't respond.

Liliana gave her a light slap on the face.

Still didn't respond.

Liliana took Nemo's water bottle out of his hand, and poured it over Killy.

Killy's eyes shot open and she pushed Liliana away, grabbing her own water bottle and pouring some over Liliana.

The two women flung the water at each other while Nemo sat to the side, a rare grin on his face.

'because this is mature and everything,' he said.

Liliana and Killy exchanged a look and promptly poured the rest of the water over him.

--

Eli was sitting moodily a few feet away from Aryel and Charlie.

'cheer up, emo kid,' Aryel said jokingly.

Eli turned to her. 'how do you do it?'

'do what?' she asked.

'be so confident, all the time,' he clarified. 'you're always giving these big in... well, not inspirational, but these big speeches and everyone listens to you.'

'so basically,' Charlie said. 'you're asking what it's like to be her?'

'yeah,' Eli nodded.

'What's it like to be me?' she asked. They nodded. She thought for few moments. 'Well...imagine if you woke up every morning, and while you're eating breakfast, you open the newspaper to the horoscopes and it simply says, 'Fuck yeah."' She paused as Charlie started choking on his water, laughing. 'That's what it's like to be me.'

Eli stared at her. 'really?'

'uh huh,' she smiled. She turned to Charlie and patted his back. 'breathe,' she instructed.

--

'we were a bit cruel,' Kate said as they walked through the jungle.

'he needs to understand,' Maya said. 'he's a liability.'

'it's still not a nice thing to do,' Oz agreed.

'funnily enough,' Maya snapped. 'I'm not a nice person.'

She walked ahead, and Oz and Kate exchanged a look.

'go figure,' Oz said dryly.

--

Lucy sat down next to Roxy.

'umm, hi...' she said nervously. 'are you... Roxanne?'

'yeah, yeah, I am,' she smiled. 'and you're Melinda?'

She nodded vigorously. 'when...Ashley knocked you out, you looked at me and said Lucy. Why did you say that? My sister...' she swallowed. 'is dead.'

'if your sister is Lucille Mercier, then no,' she said. 'Lucy isn't dead. She is with my people.'

'really?' Mindy asked.

'really,' Roxy smiled.

Mindy smiled brightly and hugged Roxy.

--

'so, how we doing this?' Oz asked.

Maya, Kate and Locke looked at him.

'I mean, who's going first?' he clarified.

'I will,' Maya said.

Locke began fastening the cable around her. 'not too tight?'

'it's good,' she said. She began to climb down the ladder.

Locke, Oz and Kate took hold of the cable as she went.

'be safe,' Oz said.

'of course,' she smiled.

They lowered her slowly, and soon enough, they could tell that she had hit the bottom.

They pulled up the cable, and tied it around Kate's waist.

'ready?' Oz asked.

'as I'll ever be,' Kate said.

She was also lowered down slowly.

At about the half way mark, the cable started slipping through their grip.

Kate shrieked as she fell, a floodlight coming on and up the hatch.

'Kate!' Locke yelled.

'Kate!' Oz yelled.

Kate's weight was taken from the cable and the two men fell back.

'KATE!!'

Locke was shouting, Oz was yelling, Kate was shrieking, Maya was screaming.

There was so much noise; they didn't hear the whispers around them.

"_...she's a liar..."_

"_...don't trust her..."_

"_...or him..."_

In the end, it would be a good thing they didn't hear the whispers.

--

Constance, Libby, Cindy and Serena were fishing.

'what's that?' Cindy nodded her head down the beach.

Constance turned and looked.

Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the body.

'get Ana Lucia,' she said simply.

--

_Can I come?_

Jack looked up, surprised by the notepad suddenly in front of him.

'Michelle,' he said. 'I'm sorry, but...'

Michelle began writing on her notepad again, quickly.

_If you say it's because I'm don't talk, then that is prejudice of the highest order!_

'I think that's a bit overdramatic,' Jack said.

She crossed her arms over her chest, to show him that she wasn't kidding.

'fine,' he sighed. 'you can come.'

_Terrific._

_--_

_Sammy and Sawyer were sitting at one of the tables, plotting the fall of Munson._

'_so why you even in here?' Sammy asked Sawyer._

'_con gone wrong,' Sawyer muttered. 'you?'_

'_vandalism, assault,' Sammy said. 'hope those scum are in a place like this.'_

_Sawyer raised an eyebrow, curious._

'_my sister, she was bashed a couple years back,' Sammy said gruffly. 'by my group of friends when I wasn't there. She died. All I've wanted since then is for them to rot in prison, or something. Revenge.'_

'_so why don't you get revenge?'_

_Sammy looked at him in thought._

_It wasn't a bad idea._

_--_

Michelle and Jack walked into the clearing where the hatch was.

_Now what? _Michelle wrote.

'now we go down,' Jack said.

--

'hey,' Michael said. 'check it out.'

He pointed across behind Michael, to where there was another part of the raft, where Sammy and Yoon were.

'well, how about that,' Luka said. 'they haven't killed each other yet.'

'HEY SAMMY! YOON!' Michael yelled out.

The two on the other raft looked around before seeing them.

'HEY!' they yelled in unison.

The four smiled, glad the others were alive.

**--**

Michelle landed at the bottom of the hatch in a cat-like crouch, making almost no noise.

She stood properly, and quietly waited for Jack.

A minute later he jumped down with a thud, landing like an elephant.

Michelle gave him a dirty look.

'what?' he asked.

She raised a finger to her lips in the universal "shut the Hell up" gesture.

'okay,' he sighed, rolling his eyes.

Jack and Michelle walked side by side, through the maze of a hatch. They walked down a hallway, and came to a huge mural, with random colours, phrases and animals on it.

They walked further down the hallway, to a room with computer equipment.

Jack walked over to the main computer and looked at it. He went to press the "execute" button.

'I wouldn't do that.'

Jack and Michelle turned to see Locke.

'where is Kate?' Jack asked. 'and Maya and Oz?'

'drop your gun,' Locke said to Jack.

Michelle's eyes narrowed. This wasn't right.

A gun was put to Locke's head. 'Move and I kill him. Put the gun down.'

'Where are they?' Jack demanded.

'it's okay,' Locke said.

'drop it!' the gunman exclaimed.

'I'm not dropping anything...' Jack said.

The man fired above their heads. 'Lower your gun or I'll blow his damned head off, brother!'

Michelle angrily took the gun out of Jack's hand and threw it on the ground as the man moved behind Locke and held the gun there.

Jack saw his face. 'You.'

--

Eko looked at Jin, tied to the tree.

'I don't think he's a threat,' he turned back to the other few there.

'He doesn't even speak English,' Induala agreed.

'Akilina,' Serena said.

'Lina isn't a threat, I might add,' Induala said.

'but he could be pretending that he can't speak English,' Serena clarified.

'does anyone know Chinese?' Erin asked. 'or Japanese, whatever it is.'

'it's Korean,' Induala said. 'and no.'

'he's not a threat,' Eko said.

'we found him in the water,' Cindy said.

'uh, guys?' Libby said. 'the "not a threat" is getting away.'

They turned to see Jin running through the jungle.

They ran after him.

--

The four of them swam ashore.

'good to see you didn't kill each other,' Michael said to Yoon and Sammy.

They heard yelling in a foreign language.

'Jin?' Yoon asked.

Jin ran out onto the beach with his arms tied behind his back.

'Jin!' Yoon exclaimed.

Michael began untying him.

'Others,' Jin said urgently. 'Others.' He looked behind him. 'Others.'

Sammy, Yoon, Michael and Luka turned to see a group of people coming towards them.

One of them swung a huge stick, knocking them to the ground, one by one.

--

**Yay. The Tailies meet Fuselage people. Aryel's awesome! Those freighter people, they're not all of them, just the science team, basically. Yoon and Sammy kiss...what did you think? Totally them or what? Ashley...sad.**

**Please review!**

**And people who read SitMoN: important poll on authors page.**


	24. Just Pull the Trigger

**So this is a very short chapter compared to the others, but it's technically part one, and I wanted to give you all a chapter before I'm super swamped in the next three weeks. It's Constance centric. Enjoy!**

'okay, seriously,' Nemo said. 'we gotta keep moving, guys.'

'we're not in a rush, Nemo,' Killy said. 'it's not like we're being chased through the jungle by them – the Others.'

'yeah-' Liliana began to agree, but suddenly she stopped, staring wide eyed at what was behind Nemo.

A huge cloud of black smoke.

'what?' Nemo asked, seeing her face.

'run,' she whispered.

....

_Constance ran around the hotel room, gathering all her belongings. She had to get on the flight with him. She had to, or she would lose his trail forever._

_Constance shoved her passport into her pocket, and her gun into her holster, before she picked up a pen and scrawled a quick note._

David –

I'm sorry, but I have to call off the wedding. I found Sawyer again, and I need to get him in custody.

- Constance

_Constance picked up her ticket and left the room._

_Flight 815. Flight 815._

_...._

Sammy groaned and sat up, blinking and looking around the pit.

'welcome back,' Yoon said, somewhat sarcastically.

'aww, thanks,' he returned the sarcasm with ease. 'so what happened?'

'we got our asses kicked,' Luka said bluntly.

'and they threw us down here,' Michael said.

'and they are....?' Sammy asked.

'Them.'

....

'I'll gladly do it again.'

'Induala, no,' Lucian said. 'they could be dangerous.'

'I'll do it,' Constance said.

Ana Lucia turned around and nodded. And then she punched Constance.

....

The tree was ripped from the ground next to her, and Liliana shrieked in fear as she ran.

She hadn't seen Nemo, or Killy for awhile, but she had heard Killy's screams echoing around the jungle, although she hadn't heard Nemo at all.

Deep within her, she thought that he was safe.

At least she prayed he was.

....

Nemo had fallen.

He had fallen, and his mind went over what Killy had said.

"it's the monster, it's the monster...it's the friggin' monster!"

Of course, she had never actually seen the monster, but she had, they all had, heard horrifying stories about what was only referred to as the monster, or the Black Smoke.

Nemo climbed over the dead tree and began running again, ignoring the sounds, the screeching, clanking, the trees being ripped from the ground.

Nemo just ran.

....

Sammy was staring at Yoon. He wasn't actually aware that he was staring, he wasn't aware of how long he was looking at her for, but he technically was staring.

He was thinking of how he had kissed her – how she had kissed him. He didn't really remember who initiated the kiss, just that it was the definition of passion.

He stared at her hair, her eyes, her lips. Her rosy lips.

He stared at her, stared until she looked up.

And then he looked away.

And she started staring at him.

....

He writhed in pain, twisting and turning with the force of the taser.

His escape plan had failed.

Again.

And then she was kneeling lightly on his chest, keeping him in one place.

'we got to stop meeting like this, Warren,' Renata teased lightly, taking out her gun, just as a precaution – or so she told herself.

'yeah,' he agreed, his breathing hitched from the pain. '_definitely_.'

He swung out, knocking her back, the gun in her hand flying through the air.

Warren caught it and pointed it at her, his finger pressing down slightly on the trigger.

That was when Renata tasered him, this time with full power.

She felt a grim sort of satisfaction when Warren was knocked unconscious, his body still shaking from the power of the shock.

Renata got out her walkie. 'Sanz, you there?' she asked into it.

'_Sanz here. What's up, Suzi?'_

Renata sighed. 'Carlos.'

'_sorry, sorry. Suzuki, what's going on?'_

'Murdock escaped. _Again_.'

'_oh, what a refreshing change of pace.'_

Renata laughed.

....

'Liliana? Nemo? Any-frickin'-one?'

Killy desperately ran through the jungle, screaming out the names of the two people she was with, the two people she cared about most at the moment.

'Liliana! Nemo! Where the Hell are you?' she screamed.

Killy turned around, and she was met with a punch to the face.

She blindly hit back before seeing who it was.

'you,' Killy whispered in shock, her head spinning.

'hey, Killy,' Ashley smiled, and although Killy hadn't known her long, she just knew that Ashley wasn't one who smiled. 'don't pull it.'

'what?' Killy blinked.

But Ashley was gone.

....

'I can hear them coming,' Luka said in a bored voice.

At the same time, Yoon and Sammy jumped up. The other three watched as Yoon took up a rock in her hand and Sammy hoisted her up onto his shoulders.

Michael and Luka exchanged a look.

How the _Hell _had the two of them come up with this plan silently? More to the point, how had they understood each others silence meant this?

The cover was lifted and Yoon was blinded by the sun, so she threw the rock, hearing it hit someone as a woman was pushed into the pit, landing face down.

A curse word was heard and the cover was closed again.

'hey, hey,' Michael said, turning the girl over. The woman backed away. 'hey, hey, hey, it's okay,' he assured her.

'who are you people?' the woman asked, looking around at them all, just as Sammy helped Yoon off his shoulders.

'our plane crashed,' Luka said. The woman looked at him, and noticed that out of the five of them, he seemed the most disinterested of the bunch. 'about a month and a half ago, something like that. Sydney to LA.'

'what?' she asked, her eyes widening.

'eyes any wider, and they're gonna fall out, sweetheart,' Sammy said dryly. 'yeah, we crashed. There's forty of us and-'

'Oceanic Flight 815?' she interrupted.

Michael, Luka and Sammy exchanged a look and Yoon quickly translated to Jin.

'you were on the flight too?' Michael asked.

'yeah – I was in the back, when the plane broke apart someone's frickin' luggage knocked me out. Woke up on the beach. alone,' she said.

Yoon and Sammy exchanged a look, thinking the same thing. They both knew a cover story when they heard one.

'really?' Sammy asked.

'yeah,' she nodded eagerly – a bit too eagerly for Yoon's liking. 'I've been walking around the Island, trying to survive and yesterday....they found me.'

'uh huh,' Yoon said.

The woman avoided her gaze and looked at Jin, who looked the friendliest of the bunch. 'I'm Constance. What's your name?'

When he didn't answer, she looked at Michael.

'I'm Michael,' he said. 'my son...they took my son. He's ten. Have you seen him?'

'no, I'm sorry,' she said sincerely.

She looked at Luka.

'I'm Luka,' he said.

She turned to look at Sammy and Yoon, who were having one of their famous "whisper-so-quietly-that-no-one-else-can-hear-you" arguments.

Yoon sighed. 'I'm Yoon-Cha. Yoon.'

'Sammy,' Sammy said grudgingly.

'and who are you?' she asked Jin again.

'that's Jin,' Yoon said. 'he doesn't speak English,' she added before translating who the new girl was to Jin. He said something back and she smirked slightly, turning back to Constance.

'he says nice to meet you,' she smiled.

When Constance turned away, she whispered what he really said to Sammy.

'he doesn't trust her either.'

....

_Constance tapped her foot on the ground impatiently._

'_I'm an Officer of the LAPD,' Constance repeated. 'I am allowed to carry a gun on a plane.'_

'_yes, you have said that already,' the security guard said. 'but we have to check.'_

_Constance sighed and looked ahead, watching as Sawyer walked towards the plane._

_If she didn't get him finally, there was going to be Hell to pay._

_...._

Warren sat against the back of the cage he was in, looking as Renata and another woman walked over.

'good morning, Warren,' the unknown woman said. 'my name is Cam. Renata here tells me that you keep trying to escape? Why is that?'

He looked at her as if she was the dumbest person to ever live. 'are you seriously asking that question?' he asked. 'have you ever been a prisoner, Cam?'

Cam pursed her lips. 'I have,' she said shortly.

'doesn't feel too great, huh?' he asked. When she didn't reply, he pressed on. 'did you ever try to escape? Because you hated it there? And it wasn't doing you any good?'

'we are doing you good, Warren,' she said calmly. 'you may not think so, but in the long run we will be doing you a world of good.'

'I doubt it,' he said. 'I don't think it will.'

'here's the thing though, Warren,' Cam smiled slightly. 'what you think doesn't matter. But what I think does.'

She smiled again and turned to the man and woman who had just walked over.

'give him a high dose,' she instructed to the woman. 'keep him drugged until I come back from the main Island.'

'when will that be?' the woman asked.

'a week,' she turned to the man. 'help these two lovely ladies take him to the new room.'

'"lovely"?' the man joked.

The still unnamed woman hit him.

'oww, Franziska, it was a joke! Jeez!' he exclaimed.

'call me Franziska one more time, Sanz,' she snapped. 'I dare you.'

'okay, I'm sorry Ziska, it was a joke, okay?' he said.

'I don't have time for your bitching and Rena sure as Hell doesn't either. Get him to the new room and drugged. Use brute force if you have to,' Cam said irritably.

She began walking off.

Warren caught the look on Ziska's and Carlos's faces.

'does she scare you guys?' he asked, amused.

'something like that,' Renata rolled her eyes. 'can't imagine why,' she said sarcastically.

Warren looked at her to see her smile at him. He gave a half-smile back.

....

'what if they are one of them?' Induala asked.

'we already established that, Induala,' Ana Lucia said impatiently.

'no, not Them, but them. As in Roxy's people?' she left it as a question.

They all looked at each other.

'go get her,' Ana Lucia said.

Induala set off at a run for the bunker.

....

'okay, so-'

'-our idea is-'

'-Luka, you-'

'will play-'

'dead,' Yoon and Sammy finished in unison.

'they're like a stand up comedy act,' Constance said dryly to the other three.

'hmmm....' Luka said thoughtfully. 'they used to hate each other and now they're getting along...something happened on their part of the raft,' he concluded.

'I ripped a bullet out of his shoulder with my bare hands,' Yoon said.

'showing no mercy,' Sammy nodded.

'no mercy whatsoever,' she said. She looked at Sammy and suppressed a smile. 'so, play dead.'

'playing dead? How the Hell is that supposed to work?' Constance asked.

Yoon smiled at her and went to pull the gun out the back of her jeans, but it wasn't there.

'where the Hell is my gun?' she demanded, whirling on Sammy.

'don't look at me, sweetheart,' he held his hands up in defeat. 'it wasn't me.'

'where is my gun?' she repeated.

'you mean this one?' Constance asked, taking the lifted gun out of her jeans.

Yoon stared at her.

'coming up!' Constance yelled, pointing the gun at them. 'back up,' she told them.

Yoon, Sammy, Luka, Michael and Jin all looked at each other.

And they dove towards her, wrestling her for the gun.

Constance fought back, she fought back hard, feeling the gun moving in and out of her grip.

She didn't know who it was, there was such a tangle of limbs no one could possibly know who it was, but she did hear it.

The gun go off.

And the unmistakable scream from above.

....

**Oh my God, I wonder who was shot :D so, the next update might take awhile, I am swamped for the next few weeks.**

**In better news, I have a blog to do with my fanfiction now, and although there has only been one post so far, I will be updating frequently. This is the site:**

**elyad-lost(dot)blogspot(dot)com**

**(obviously where the (dot) is, just put a period).**

**Please review, guys!**


	25. From a Whisper to a Scream

**Hey, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

They all froze.

Their eyes went to above the pit, where they heard someone fall to the ground.

And then silence.

Blood trickled down the side of pit, and Constance had to admit to herself that one of her own people, one of her friends was dead.

She pushed it to the back of her mind and quickly wrenched the gun out of the rest of their hands.

'back up,' she said. 'coming up!'

The cover was opened and a rope was thrown down.

This time the prisoners didn't move as Constance pulled herself up.

'who are they, Constance?' a voice asked.

'who died?' she retaliated as the cover closed.

'I hope we got someone important,' Sammy said.

Michael looked at him in disbelief.

Yoon and Luka nodded.

.. ..

'he isn't dead,' Ana Lucia said. 'not yet.'

'he will be though, won't he?' Constance asked.

Ana Lucia looked at Leonard, who was covered in blood.

There was no need for an explanation.

.. ..

Carlos stared at her.

She briefly looked over the top of her book at him before reading again.

He continued to stare.

Franziska put down the book and looked straight at him.

'what, Carlos?' she sighed.

'you're beautiful,' he said simply. 'you know that, right?'

She smiled slightly. 'nothing you say will make me want you, Sanz. But thanks.'

'why wouldn't you want me, Ziska?' he asked, walking over and sitting on the table she was sitting at.

'it's almost a year since your brother...my husband...died, okay?' she said. 'I can't do it, Carlos. It's still betraying Alejandro.'

'no,' he said softly. 'it's not.'

'I betrayed him enough when he was alive with my sneaking around...he's dead,' she stated, almost emotionless. 'and I'm done cheating.'

She stood up and quickly left the room.

Carlos looked after her and sighed.

.. ..

Induala, Roxy, Akilina and Lucian entered the clearing near the pit.

As soon as Induala saw Leonard on the ground, bleeding while a frantic Libby put pressure on his wound, she rushed over to them, and helped Libby.

'what's going on?' Lucian asked.

'we found five people: four men and one woman,' Ana Lucia explained. 'they say they were on the flight.'

'maybe they're some of my people!' Roxy exclaimed.

'that's what we thought,' Constance said. 'two Asians, a Russian, two Americans. Know any?'

'half the camps American,' Roxy said. 'Jin? Sun? Yoon?'

'Jin and Yoon,' Constance confirmed.

'Russian?' Akilina asked.

'yeah,' Constance said. 'starts with L...'

'Luka?' Roxy asked.

'Luka?' Akilina echoed hopefully.

'Luka,' Constance confirmed.

Akilina set off at a run towards the pit.

'they are dangerous!' Lucian and Induala yelled after her, jumping up and following her.

Akilina kept running.

.. ..

'so throw a rock at the next one?' Luka asked.

'already done that,' Yoon said tiredly. 'God, I feel like I'm going to explode.'

'uhh...what?' Michael said.

'you do remember that I gave birth awhile back, right? Well, I also assume you know how a baby is fed at such a young age?' she said.

The four men all looked confused before realization dawned on all their faces.

'Yoon! We didn't need nor want to know that!' Sammy exclaimed.

'you asked what I meant,' she shrugged.

She smirked at them as they heard the sound of someone running towards the pit.

'someone's coming,' Michael said.

'really, Michael?' Sammy said sarcastically.

'maybe whoever was shot died,' Luka said. 'maybe the rest of them are going to kill us. That'd be fun.'

'okay, they try to, Michael, use the son card, Jin, the wife card, I'll use the baby card,' Yoon said. She turned to the other two. 'you two...I guess you're screwed.'

The cover of the pit was thrown open, and a lithe figure jumped down. Yoon jumped at her, but she pushed her against the side of the pit, showing no mercy.

The girl stopped rushing forward and stood completely still.

Luka stared at her.

'you're alive,' Akilina said in flawless English, hugging him.

'you speak English,' Luka retaliated, hugging her back.

At that moment, Induala and Lucian jumped into the pit. They moved forward and each placed a hand on Akilina's shoulders.

'Lina, what are you doing?' Lucian hissed.

'Indy, Lu, this is my brother,' she smiled widely. 'Luka.'

'that explains it,' Michael muttered.

.. ..

_It started with a shriek of joy._

'_Liliana Mkhize!'_

_Liliana's head whipped around and she searched the huge crowd for the person shouting her name. She thought she should know that voice, but she couldn't quite place it._

_Maybe a business associate? Family of Michelle's? _

'_Liliana!' _

_She continued looking, before the woman appeared right in front of her._

'_Liliana, oh my God, it _is _you!' the woman squealed, hugging her tightly._

_Liliana hugged her back, memories rushing back to her. _

'_Pampata, how are you?' she asked kindly, smiling. 'it's been too long.'_

'_way too long,' Pampata agreed. 'look, I'm kind of in the middle of a meeting, but we have to see each other soon, okay? I know this _great _little Italian place, so romantic, you'll love it!'_

'_Pampata, I can't,' Liliana interrupted. 'I'm sorry, but I'm married and I have kids.'_

'_oh. Well, that doesn't mean we can't catch up,' she smiled suggestively._

'_yeah, it kind of does,' Liliana said, remembering what went down between the two of them, years ago._

'_look, pass me your phone,' Pampata said impatiently, taking it from her hands. She quickly put a number in and closed the phone again. 'so...you have my number, just give me a call...whenever, okay?' she smiled again as she left._

_Liliana looked at the number and sighed._

_That was how it had started._

.. ..

Liliana saw a flash of black smoke and she stayed completely still.

Michelle.

Mkabayi.

Malik.

Pampata.

Within the smoke, she saw many images involving the three most important people in her life and her biggest mistake. The day she met Michelle. When she kissed Michelle for the first time. Their wedding. The day they adopted Mkabayi and Malik.

The day she hurt Michelle, her biggest mistake.

She blinked, and the smoke was gone.

She was alone once more.

.. ..

Induala and Lucian pulled Akilina up and out of the pit.

'can we let them out?' Akilina asked.

'I don't know, Lina,' Induala said. 'we have to talk to Ana and Constance.'

'do you know them, Akilina?' Serena asked.

'no...' she trailed off. 'not all of them.'

'what do you mean, "not all of them"?' Serena demanded. 'how would you know only some if they are some of Them? You know what? You're probably one of Them. What we all thought to begin with-'

'SHUT IT!' Induala, of all people, exclaimed. 'just stop, Serena. Akilina is not one of them, okay? She never was, and never will be. It's her brother.'

'what are you on about, Induala?' she demanded.

'her brother. He's one of the one's in the pit. And the people with him...they were on the plane, okay? They were on the plane, Serena. Just...stop, okay? Stop accusing Lina of being one of them, just because she didn't tell us she could speak English. That girl was scared, she was alone and scared, so she did what she thought would help her survive. Yeah, it may have been stupid, but seriously, Serena...can you just stop?'

Serena stared at her.

'and let's get them out of that pit,' Induala said. '...okay?'

She stared at Ana Lucia and raised an eyebrow, as if challenging her.

Ana Lucia sighed.

'get them out of there.'

.. ..

Scarlett threw the water bottle up in the air repeatedly as she walked down the hallway, catching it quickly before casting it in the air again.

_Nineteen,_ she counted how many times in a row she had done it. _Twenty. Twenty-one. Twenty-two. Twenty-th- Damn._

She dropped the bottle and sighed, bending down to pick it up, noticing she was where she was meant to be now.

She stopped her game, and unlocked the door and walked through, closing it behind her.

She looked around the dim room, locating the prisoner in the corner.

'hello, Walt,' she said, staying in the shadows by the door. 'my name's Scarlett.'

The boy didn't turn around, and Scarlett walked up to the table by the wall, and placed the bottle there before walking back over to the door, leaning on the wall next to it.

'well, go on,' she said encouragingly. 'I haven't poisoned it, if that's what's worrying you.'

Walt sat with his back to her, and ignored her, but Scarlett walked over anyway, and picked up the bottle again, taking a mouthful.

'see? Perfectly fine. Now, drink up. You must be thirsty, Walt.'

She walked back over to the door and Walt turned around, looking at her through the dim light.

'I am,' he confessed, taking the water bottle and taking a mouthful.

'you should save some,' she instructed. 'who knows how long you're gonna be here for?'

Walt took her advice and put it down before looking at her – well, as best as he could in the dim light.

'don't bother trying to see me,' she told him. 'the lights are dimmed for a reason. My face...my appearance...it shocks and scares some people.'

'what do you mean?' he asked curiously.

Scar smiled. 'don't react,' she said, taking a few steps forward into the light, shaking her hair out of her face so he could see her clearly.

She watched as Walt took in her disfigured face, took in her many, many scars, and to his credit, he didn't recoil in disgust, or fear, or anything like that. He looked past her scars and looked at her eyes – her bright amber eyes, eyes which made Walt think that she had some hope still left in her somewhere; she had a mischievous glint in her left eye, like an ember from a burning fire.

'you have nice eyes,' Walt smiled at her. 'I like your eyes.'

Scar smiled at him – well, he assumed it was a smile, he couldn't tell because her scars pulled her mouth and eyes into different directions, making it look like she was angry, like she was scowling at him, but then he realized that her eyes gave her away. Her eyes grew brighter, happier, reminding him of the sun.

'thanks kid,' she said. 'right, back to business. So, as I said, I'm Scarlett, but you can call me Scar – and yeah, I do get the irony, you don't need to point it out. 'okay, so you're special, Walt. And I also know that all parents say that about their kids, and you've probably heard it before, but I'm serious, kid. You are actually special.'

Scar took a seat in front of him, crossing her legs and sitting a file in her lap.

'so, you're special, and that's a _very _good thing for us, but then there's also good people and bad people. Good people like Claire and Roxy and Laura at your camp. Bad people, like Sammy, like Kate, like Yoon, also from your camp. And special people, like you and like Lucy. But then, there are mixes between the three. Special people who do good things, like Erica. Special people who do bad things, like Lucy's aunt. Good people who do bad things, like Aryel, and bad people who do good things, like Deniz. And then there are a mix between all three. And once those people realize their gifts... well...'

'what?' Walt asked, transfixed by her story.

'then we're screwed, Walt.'

.. ..

Nemo knelt by the river, scooping up water in his hands, drinking. He hadn't heard the monster in hours, hadn't heard Liliana in hours, hadn't heard Killy in hours.

He hadn't heard any of them in hours.

And he was okay with it.

Nemo's head shot up as he heard a scream.

Even though he hadn't known them for long, he had deciphered the difference between Liliana's scream and Killy's scream.

Liliana's was a scream.

Killy's was a shriek.

This one was a shriek.

.. ..

Killy ran through the jungle, away from the black smoke, not really aware of how fast she was going until she ran right into someone, knocking them both of the ground.

'usually my wife would kill me if I was this close to a woman...but I think I'll have a pass, Killy,' Liliana groaned. 'now, get off me!'

'oh, Liliana, Liliana!' Killy exclaimed. 'thank _God _you're okay!'

'right back at you,' Liliana managed to give her a hug, but followed it with a shove. 'now get off me.'

Killy pulled herself off her and smiled.

'let's find Nemo,' Liliana said.

Killy nodded.

.. ..

Induala and Lucian helped pulled Yoon up, after pulling the rest up.

'thank _you_,' Yoon said sarcastically.

'no problem,' Lucian returned the sarcasm quickly, smiling. 'Lucian.'

'Yoon,' she said.

The group was led through the jungle a small way, before they got to another clearing.

As soon as Yoon saw the bleeding Leonard on the ground, she dropped down next to Libby and stuck her hand inside the wound.

'what are-' Libby began.

'I'm a doctor,' she explained.

'hey.'

Yoon, Michael, Luka, Jin and Sammy looked up in shock.

'Roxy?' Michael asked.

'I got lost,' Roxy shrugged at them.

.. ..

'_oh, hey, cool, a gun.'_

That's how it had begun.

"it" being the hour long argument over whether or not Killy and Liliana should even bother with the gun. Ever since Killy had picked it up, the two women had argued over it.

First Killy was for it, and Liliana was against it: "there are Others!" "guns are dangerous!" "yeah...but there are _Others_!"

And then Killy was against it, and Liliana was all for it: "guns are dangerous!" "you just _said..._" "yeah, but _you_ just _said_ they're dangerous!"

And then they had been both against it: "guns are dangerous." "yeah..."

And then both for it: "there are Others." "_they're _dangerous." "yeah."

And again on opposite sides. And again on the same side. Changing sides.

Finally, Liliana sighed and threw the gun down on the ground.

'there,' she said. 'let's just leave it and go.'

Killy began to nod but heard a rustling in the bushes.

Without a second thought, she knelt down and picked up the gun, firing straight into the jungle, one, two, three times.

.. ..

_Liliana paced the room angrily, she couldn't believe Michelle would blame her for spending too much time out of the country lately. They were close to a breakthrough with new clients, Michelle knew that. And she still had the nerve to blame her?_

_Who did she think she was?_

_Liliana sighed._

_She needed to drink._

_She needed to drink and dance, she needed to party._

_She flopped back on the bed and opened her phone, going through her contacts, mentally naming why she wouldn't ask them._

_Married, married, engaged, pregnant, pain in her ass, out of town, on honeymoon, total bitch, Pampata, underage, better friend of Michelle-_

_Pampata._

_Almost everyone else she knew was a friend of Michelle too, and they would pass on Liliana's frustrations to Michelle, and that would just lead to another argument._

_Liliana put her phone to her ear._

'_hey, this is Pampata,' a voice said after a minute._

'_hey, it's Liliana,' she said. 'you busy?'_

.. ..

She dropped the gun on the ground, staring at the blood on the woman's chest in shock.

Next to her, Liliana grabbed her arm, holding it tightly.

'what did you do, Killy?' she whispered. 'what did you do?'

Killy took a shaky step back and the woman tightened her grip.

The blood spread and a man ran out behind the woman, catching her.

Killy shook her head.

'what did you do?'

The woman's words had been whispers.

Now they were a scream.

.. ..

**Again, that was just part two of the last chapter. I wonder who was shot... And yes, these characters need to learn to be more careful with their guns. I'm trying to show that. So, I'm sorry if this chapter made little sense, I am high because of pain medication. Something which also ties into that, is the fact that this was meant to be updated last Thursday night, but I got behind on schoolwork and had to do that, and then I had my surgery Friday and I've been high since. So sorry for the wait. Hope you liked it.**

**Review!**


	26. What Do You Say To Taking Chances?

**Here's the next chapter. This chapter takes place as chapter 24 and 25. Enjoy! **

Maya looked above her, watching as Kate was lowered down into the Hatch with her.

Kate suddenly slipped down and Maya flinched, knowing what was happening before it did.

But she was surprised.

Instead of Kate falling, she regained her composure.

For a moment.

And then Maya was grabbed from behind, a hand covering her mouth. She struggled with the person and bit the hand of her assailant.

The hand was kept there, and a light came on, lighting up the entire shaft.

Maya elbowed the person in the face and the hand left her mouth. She heard Kate scream and the sound of her falling, and a second later she was hit in the face by Kate's foot before she landed.

Maya screamed on instinct.

.. ..

'_I'm sorry,' a twenty-two year old Michelle said. 'I'm sorry, I can't do it.'_

_The two people in front of her, her bosses, looked slightly surprised. Most people would kill to be an assistant of one of the owners of the firm._

'_could you tell us why?' Genet asked._

'_I...I'm sorry, but I've heard about what has happened to each of her assistants in the past,' Michelle explained. 'it works for a week, or maybe two, and then they piss her off and get fired. I'm sorry, but I just like working here too much to risk it.'_

'_I see...' Sade said._

'_what if,' Genet began. 'what if we guarantee you that you will still have a job if it doesn't work out?'_

_Michelle looked between the two of them, their faces hopeful._

_She sighed. 'guaranteed?'_

'_guaranteed,' they nodded in unison._

'_okay,' she said slowly. 'I guess I can do it.'_

_Maybe it would work out._

_.. .._

Izzie walked into her house and smiled, hearing her song. Her song being the song that Matt had composed for her years beforehand.

Izzie walked in the other room and stopped short, seeing not Matt, but Hayden.

'uhh...hi?' Izzie said. 'why are you in my house?'

'I'm waiting for your brother,' Hayden said, not turning around.

'okay, then why are you playing that song?' she asked.

'I have a photographic memory when it comes to music. If I hear it once, I can play it. Matt was playing this when I came in the other day. Why?'

'it's my song,' she said.

'you wrote it?' Hayden asked, suddenly interested.

'no, Matt wrote it for me,' Izzie said. 'only he plays it.'

'would you like me to stop?' Hayden asked.

Izzie didn't say anything but walked out of the room.

Hayden stopped playing.

.. ..

Locke and Oz were down the bottom of the Hatch now, walking around slowly, looking through the dim light.

'Maya,' Oz called out softly.

'Kate,' Locke called out softly.

The two slowly walked along the hallway, trying to remain as quiet as possible.

Oz threw all attempts of remaining quiet out the window, once he saw Maya lying on the ground, blood slowly trickling from a wound on her head.

'Maya!' he whisper-shouted, rushing forward and kneeling down next to her. She was breathing shallowly, her eyes fluttering.

'uhh...don't leave me,' she murmured, delirious.

'I'm not going to leave you,' he promised.

And then he felt pain, pain in the back of his head, and he fell forward, Darkness surrounding him.

Faintly he heard a Scottish voice, demanding something.

'Are you him? Are you him?'

.. ..

'it's been crazy. Crazy French Chick, crazy Others, crazy everything. It doesn't make any sense to me. Not to any of us. But you...you'd be able to make sense of it. You...you would rationalize this, and you would tell me what you thought of it. And that's why I love you. You can always make me feel better about any situation. I need you here. I love you. I miss you.'

Laura looked up as she heard footsteps, and turned to see Shannon slowly walking over to Boone's grave. She had two wildflowers in her hands, and she placed one on Boone's grave. After a moment of hesitation, she placed the other one on the grave, the one that Laura was in front of.

Laura gave her a small smile, and Shannon sat next to her.

'he died bravely,' Laura told her.

'so did she,' Shannon said.

.. ..

Maya was faintly aware of being pushed into warm arms.

'you touch her again-' she heard someone protest.

'it's okay, it's okay,' she repeated, murmuring reassuringly, her eyes opening blearily.

She looked around her, seeing Locke tying up Kate, a man with a gun pointed at them, and she was in the arms of Oz.

'you okay?' he asked her.

'I'm fine. You?'

'I'm good,' he smiled at her.

'so the world's still out there, huh?' the man with the gun asked Locke.

'As far as I know. Could you tell me your name?' Locke asked.

'my name?' the man asked. 'my name's Desmond.'

'I'm John. This is Kate, Oz and Maya,' he introduced.

'How many of your group have gotten sick?' Desmond asked.

'sick?' the four asked in unison.

'as in dead,' he clarified.

'No one has. No one. No one is sick,' Kate said.

'KATE! LOCKE!' a voice called out. 'OZ! MAYA!'

Desmond looked at the four of them.

'who's that?' Desmond demanded.

The four of them looked at each other.

'Jack,' they sighed.

.. ..

_It worked out._

_Michelle had never believed it would, but it did. It worked out great, in fact. Not only did they work well together, they had gotten along, and then they had started dating a few years after they met._

_Now, eight years on, Michelle couldn't be happier with Liliana, couldn't be happier with life._

_Scratch that._

_She _could _be happier in life, as her daughter was sick, right now._

_And she couldn't get a hold of Liliana._

_They had a fight, a silly little fight about stuff that didn't even matter._

_She sighed and picked up her phone again, seeing if she had a message from Liliana._

_None._

_.. .._

Desmond quickly gagged Kate and left her there, tied up. He grabbed Maya's wrist.

'let go of her!' Oz exclaimed.

Desmond took a hold of him too, and pushed them into another room, closing the door behind them and locking it.

Oz looked at Maya. 'you okay?'

'why do you keep asking me that?' she asked.

'you don't look okay. You were knocked out,' Oz said. 'and I get worried about you.'

'why?'

'you're my friend.'

'uh huh,' she said.

'so...are you okay?'

'are you?' she asked.

He smiled at her. 'yeah, I am.'

'I am too,' she smiled back.

.. ..

Shannon and Laura walked along the beach, having bonded over the mutual pain of losing a loved one in the past couple weeks.

'so he wasn't your brother?' Laura questioned.

'she wasn't your sister,' Shannon shrugged. 'but you loved her like one.'

Laura nodded. 'true. When did he become your step brother?'

'I was eight,' Shannon said. 'he was ten. It took us a few years to actually get along. When did you meet Jenny?'

'four years ago. We were the only women on our team of...seven, by the time we got on 815. We got each other on a different level then the others did,' she smiled sadly.

Shannon went to take a mouthful from her water bottle, but there wasn't any left.

'hey, I'm just going to fill this up at the caves,' she said. 'do you want to come?'

Laura didn't reply, and Shannon followed her gaze.

'tell you what, I'll go, you stare at Jason, okay?' Shannon hid a smirk.

'what?' Laura said, turning to her, not hearing a word she had said.

Shannon laughed shortly. 'I'll be back soon.'

'okay,' Laura smiled. Shannon walked off the beach and Laura continued walking down the beach, but she suddenly stopped, seeing something wash onto the shore.

No.

It couldn't be...could it?

But it was.

The bottle of messages.

**.. ..**

Oz and Maya looked around the room, trying to find a way to get out.

'there's a vent,' Maya suggested.

'can we reach it?' he wondered.

'you can't. I can.'

'how do you figure that?' he asked.

'you can lift me,' she told him.

He smiled and slowly began lifting her above him.

.. ..

'What is he doing here?' Desmond demanded.

'To be honest with you I'm a little surprised to see him,' Locke admitted, as Desmond pushed him through the hatch.

'well, he's got a gun, brother,' Desmond continued looking through the telescope. 'and so does she.'

'she?' Locke asked, looking through the telescope. 'Michelle,' he said in surprise.

'you seem a bit surprised, brother,' Desmond noted.

'well, she stopped talking after the crash. I wouldn't expect her of all people here.'

Desmond sighed. 'Make one more sound and I'll shoot. Let's go,' he said, walking Locke through the hatch again.

Locke walked out into the open and saw Jack and Michelle, Jack about to push a button on the computer.

'I wouldn't do that,' he said.

The two turned and stared at him.

'where is Kate?' Jack asked. 'and Maya and Oz?'

'drop your gun,' Locke said to Jack.

Jack looked at Locke like he was insane, and Michelle looked suspiciously at him.

Desmond put a gun to Locke's head. Obviously, things weren't moving as fast as Desmond wanted. 'Move and I kill him. Put the gun down.'

'Where are they?' Jack demanded.

'it's okay,' Locke assured him.

'drop it!' Desmond exclaimed, angry at Jack.

'I'm not dropping anything...' Jack began, but Desmond fired above their heads, at the vents.

.. ..

Maya flinched in the vents and recoiled as the bullet hit right outside where she was, making a dent where her head was.

Behind her, Oz closed his hand around her ankle, comforting her.

'you okay?' he whispered.

'uh huh. That was _way _too close for comfort.'

.. ..

Desmond moved behind Locke, holding his gun to his head still, and Jack's face flashed in recognition.

'you.'

.. ..

'_I am _so _glad that's over with,' Liliana sighed, lying back on the bed in their hotel room._

'_me too,' Michelle joined her on the bed, sighing. She had never been as good as Liliana when it came to meeting with new clients. But it didn't matter now. They had made a deal, and it was okay. 'what time's our flight?' she asked._

'_in another two hours, love, don't worry,' Liliana said. 'we have a lot of time to do whatever we want,' Liliana raised an eyebrow suggestively._

_Michelle smiled as there was a knock on the door. She leaned over and gave Liliana a quick kiss. 'I'll be right back,' she said, standing up and going to the door._

_Behind her, Liliana sat up, looking at the door._

_Michelle opened the door to see a slim woman standing there. 'can I help you?' Michelle asked politely._

_The woman looked past her, at Liliana._

'_Pampata,' Liliana said in surprise._

'_you told me you would leave her,' the woman, Pampata, said._

_And just like that, Michelle felt like her whole world was falling out from beneath her._

_.. .._

'you.'

Michelle stared at Jack, before her eyes went back to the other man.

Did they know each other? She wondered.

'Do I know you, brother?' the man demanded.

**.. ..**

Maya and Oz lowered themselves from the vent, finding themselves in a gun vault.

'jackpot,' Maya muttered. She picked up a shotgun and smiled.

'do you even know how to use a gun?' he wondered.

In answer, she loaded it and cocked it.

'did you ask something?' she asked him, smiling at him.

He smiled and rolled his eyes, following her out. He saw Kate, and untied her, as Maya ventured forward, moving up behind the man and hitting him in the back with the shotgun.

Desmond fell, the gun going off in the process.

Jack rushed forward, holding Desmond down.

'Do not move,' Jack said.

'He's unarmed, Jack,' Locke said.

'He just had a gun pointed at your head!' Jack exclaimed.

Desmond's eyes widened, as he looked at the computer, up in smoke.

'What did you do? What did you do? We're all going to die. We're all going to die!'

.. ..

Laura fought an internal battle with herself – her mind versus her heart. Her mind was telling her to tell the people who would want to know – Sun, Petro, the people who cared for those on the raft – and her heart was telling her to spare them the worry.

But if she spared them the worry, then who could she tell?

**.. ..**

'I have to fix it. I have to fix it.'

'What the hell is he talking about?' Jack asked Locke.

'Look at the wall. You see that? That's a timer. It's counting down. I've got to enter the code. I've got to push the button,' Desmond said.

'Or what?' Jack asked.

'Do I know you?' Desmond asked.

Jack looked at Maya.

'I got him,' she said, holding the gun to Desmond.

Jack let him up and Desmond ran for the computer.

Desmond looked at it before running for the bookcase.

'whatever you're looking for, maybe I can help,' Oz suggested.

'can you fix a computer?' Desmond demanded.

'no...'

'then you can't help me, can you?'

'Sayid,' Maya said.

'what's that?' Desmond asked.

'Sayid can fix a computer,' Kate said.

'go get him,' Locke said to her.

Michelle pointed to herself, indicating that she would go, and she ran out after Desmond told her where the door was, and Jack looked at Desmond.

'what is this place?' he asked.

'The bookcase – top shelf, behind "Turn of the Screw" - projector's in the pantry,' Desmond said.

**.. ..**

'mango?'

Shannon looked up and smiled slightly at Eli, accepting the fruit.

'so how are you holding up?' he asked, taking a seat next to her.

'I'm fine,' she said, dismissing the idea that she would be anything less.

Eli raised an eyebrow. 'no, you're not.'

'okay, maybe I'm not. But I will be...eventually,' she said.

Eli put a consoling arm around his friend and she sighed.

.. ..

'calm at last,' Max said to Sayid, who nodded in response.

'SAYID!' an unfamiliar voice rang out.

'crap,' Hurley said.

The three men watched as Michelle of all people ran out of the jungle and stopped in front of them.

'we...' she began, gasping for breath. 'need your help.'

.. ..

Laura again walked up and down the beach. Who to tell, who to tell...Hurley wouldn't work. He was just the type of person who couldn't deal with something like that. Claire, Claire had just given birth, she had a son to look after, and Jason had Claire to look after. Jack was nowhere to be seen, same with Michelle, who Laura knew was perhaps the most level headed person on the Island. Sayid...

Laura looked around, yes, Sayid seemed a good choice, and there he was, talking to Max and Hurley.

She began walking over there, but no, Michelle ran out of the jungle and started talking to them, and Sayid ran into the jungle with her and Max.

Laura sighed. Maya...where was Maya? Although she remained adamant that Michelle was the most level headed person on the Island, Maya was a close second. But Maya was nowhere to be seen.

Laura turned around, looking, searching for someone, someone whose spirit she couldn't crush with this, who she couldn't destroy, either because they were destroyed already – God, that was a horrible thought – or someone who was indestructible.

And then she saw her, the one woman who she knew was indestructible, someone that it was damn near impossible to shake her confidence.

Laura smiled and began walking over to Aryel.

**.. ..**

"_Welcome, I'm Dr. Marvin Candle, and this is the orientation film for Station 3 of the DHARMA Initiative. In a moment you'll be given a simple set of instructions for how you and your partner will fulfil the responsibilities associated with the station. But first, a little history."_

Jack, Kate, Maya, Oz and Locke sat and watched the old film in fascination.

"_The DHARMA Initiative was created in 1970, and it is the brainchild of Gerald and Karen DeGroot - two doctoral candidates at the University of Michigan. Following in the footsteps of visionaries such as B.F. Skinner-" _the film was old, Oz knew that, but still, it surprised him when it jumped ahead._ "-imagined a large scale communal research compound where scientists and free thinkers from around the globe could pursue research in meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, zoology, electromagnetism, and Utopian social-" _Maya was transfixed by the film, and got only slightly annoyed as it jumped again._ "-Danish industrialist and munitions magnate Alvar Hanso whose financial backing made their dream of a multi-purpose social science research facility a reality."_

Desmond rushed around the room, gathering supplies and packing them into a bag. Michelle, Max and Sayid entered the Hatch, and Michelle showed Sayid to the room with the computer, informing him quickly of what was going on.

"_You and your partner are currently located in Station 3, or the Swan, and will be for the next 540 days. The Station 3 was originally constructed as a laboratory where scientists could work to understand the unique electromagnetic fluctuations emanating from this sector of the island."_

Michelle and Max joined them in watching the movie, Michelle raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"_Not long after the experiments began, however, there was an incident. And since that time the following protocol has been observed: every 108 minutes the button must be pushed. From the moment the alarm sounds you will have 4 minutes to enter the code into the microcomputer processor-" _it jumped again._ "-induction into the program. When the alarm sounds, either you or your partner must input the code. It is highly recommended that you and your partner take alternating shifts. In this manner you will stay as fresh and alert-"_

'seriously...' Maya muttered in annoyance at the jump. Desmond started walking down the hallway, a man on a mission. Michelle stood up and followed him, Max right behind her.

"_-utmost importance that when the alarm sounds the code be entered correctly, and in a timely fashion. Do not attempt to use the computer- for anything - Congratulations, until your replacements arrive, the future of the project is in your hands. On behalf of the DeGroots, Alvar Hanso and all of us at the DHARMA Initiative, thank you. Namaste. And good luck."_

'where are you going?' Michelle asked of Desmond.

Desmond turned around. 'I was under the impression that you don't talk.'

'I do sometimes,' she said. 'where are you going?'

'away from here,' he said. 'you may all want to be around for the end of the world, but I don't.'

He opened the door to outside and walked through it.

After a moment, Michelle and Max followed him.

.. ..

Aryel looked up as a shadow was cast over her.

'can I help you, Warrior Princess?' she asked.

Laura pursed her lips. She had a feeling she would have to play this game with Aryel. She got a crinkled piece of paper out of her pocket and began reading it out. '"Dillon",' she began. '"Great idea, telling me to travel"-'

'where the Hell'd you get that?' Aryel demanded, snatching the piece of paper out of her hand. 'that was in the bottle.'

Laura held up the bottle.

'this one?'

Aryel crossed her arms across her chest.

'start explaining.'

.. ..

'Desmond!' Michelle called out as they ran through the jungle.

The man turned around and looked at the two of them.

'oh right,' he said. 'you want the code, yeah?'

'come again?' Max asked.

'Listen carefully. If by some miracle you manage to get the computer working again you've got to enter the code: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42, hit execute.'

'what are you talking about?' Max demanded. 'Nothing is going to happen. Some man takes you down there, shows you a movie, and you push a button on, on faith alone? Nothing will happen!'

'In about fifteen minutes you're either going to be very right, or very wrong, brother,' Desmond told him. 'See you in another life, yeah?'

'Max,' Michelle said. 'run and tell them the numbers. I want to ask Desmond something.'

'you sure?' he asked hesitantly.

'I'm sure.'

.. ..

'_you told me you would leave her.'_

_Michelle turned away from the woman, and looked at her wife in shock._

'_Liliana?' she asked hesitantly._

_Liliana looked passed her, at the woman._

'_I said no such thing, Pampata,' Liliana said. 'in fact, it was the exact opposite.'_

'_did our time together mean nothing to you?' Pampata asked._

'_you got that right. It meant _nothing_ to me.'_

'_Liliana, what is going on?'_

_Liliana opened her mouth, but Pampata beat her to it, walking into the hotel room._

'_your wife told me that she would leave you for me,' she said lividly. 'I guess she just said it to get me to sleep with her.'_

_Michelle's face turned stony, and she gave Pampata her best "I-hate-you-with-a-passion" look._

'_the doors that way, honey,' she said angrily, directing her to the door._

'_call me,' Pampata said to Liliana._

'_ain't happening,' Liliana said as Pampata left._

_Michelle turned to Liliana._

'_Michelle-' Liliana began._

'_we should head to the airport, in case of traffic,' Michelle interrupted._

'_Michelle-'_

'_we'll talk about it when we get home, Liliana.'_

'_Munyemo, please just hear me-'_

'Liliana_,' she stressed. 'we will talk about it at home, okay?'_

_Liliana sighed and nodded._

_.. .._

Laura and Aryel finished burying the bottle in the sand. They had come to the conclusion that they shouldn't burden anyone else with this, it could have just fallen off the raft, the raft was fine, they all were, they were getting rescued.

Or at least that's what they told themselves.

'what if they're not okay?' Laura asked.

'they will be,' Aryel said. 'now. Help me get back to my tent.'

Laura smiled and helped Aryel up, putting her arm around her waist and helping the woman back.

They would be okay.

**.. ..**

Maya leaned against the wall, tired of the argument raging in front of her.

'Why do you find it so hard to believe?' Locke demanded of Jack.

Oz walked over and stood next to Maya.

'Why do you find it so easy?' Jack demanded.

'God, this is pointless,' Oz muttered.

'It's never been easy!' Locke exclaimed.

'so you're okay?' Oz muttered to Maya, gesturing to the wound on her head.

'yeah. You?'

He nodded and took her hand.

'Jack, maybe you should just do it,' Kate suggested hesitantly.

'it's just a button,' Jack said defiantly.

'It's a leap of faith, Jack,' Locke said.

'one I'm not going to take,' Jack said.

'I'll take it.'

Everyone turned to the doorway, to see Max walk in.

'4,' he muttered, inputting the numbers. '8. 15. 16. 23. 42.'

He pressed execute and the timer flicked over to 108 minutes.

'I'll take the first shift,' Locke said as Max walked out.

He had to check on Michelle.

.. ..

'what if it's all a lie?' Michelle asked Desmond quietly.

'what if it's not?' Desmond countered. 'what if the world is going to end in fifteen minutes? What if there is no place other than this Island?'

Tears shone in Michelle's eyes. 'I have to believe it's a lie.'

'and why's that, sister?' he asked.

'otherwise I will never see my children again,' she said.

'I'm sorry about that, sister. But I have to go.'

And then he ran off, leaving Michelle alone.

Michelle broke down, and started crying.

A few minutes of relative silence passed, the only sound being her sobs, and a hand was placed on her shoulder.

She looked up to see Max.

'you okay?' he asked softly.

She nodded. 'I...I just miss my family, Max,' she said tearfully. 'you understand that...don't you?'

'I do,' he said, wrapping his arms around his friend.

Michelle's head snapped up suddenly.

'what is it?' Max asked.

Michelle listened, hearing a voice, a familiar voice.

'let's just leave it and go,' the voice said, from some place behind them.

Michelle whirled around.

'what is that?' Max asked.

Michelle took a few steps forward, the bushes rustling and spoke.

'that's my wife,' she said.

And then a gun went off, one, two, three times.

Chest. Shoulder. Arm.

Blood seeped from the wounds, and Michelle gasped in pain.

'what did you do, Killy?' one of the women whispered. 'what did you do?'

The other woman stepped back in shock.

Max ran out of the jungle, catching Michelle as she fell.

'Michelle, oh my God!' Max exclaimed.

Michelle wasn't looking up at him, but at the women – or rather, one of them.

'what did you do?' the woman screamed at the woman who had shot Michelle.

The screaming woman ran forward, and Max shot her a look, a look that told her to back the Hell off.

She ignored him and caressed Michelle's face.

'oh, God, Michelle,' she whispered.

'Liliana...' she whispered.

.. ..

**Wow. Michelle was shot. ****So sorry for the wait. I've had exams and stuff. Not to mention I've been fixated on High School Never Ends. Just so you know, the second flashback takes place at the same time as Liliana's last flashback in the last chapter. So Laura and Shannon are both still hurting from the death in their lives. And Maya/Oz. Hmmm...**

**Please review!**


	27. All We Know Is Falling

**Here's the next chapter! Enjoy. It's Hayden flashbacks.**

Blood.

Blood poured from the wounds and she scrambled to cover them, but blood kept falling right through her fingers, no matter how hard she pressed down on the wound, even more blood began flowing from the wounds.

Two hands, two pale, clammy hands, closed around her neck and she struggled.

'you did this,' the person said coldly, lowly. 'you did this to me.'

'no!' she exclaimed shakily. 'no! I didn't! I swear!'

'you did this to me,' the voice continued, squeezing her neck tighter.

She tried to find the source of the blood, as the grip on her neck tightened, but it was futile. Blood was flowing, and there was no source of it.

Hayden fell forward, not being able to breathe, and the grip on her neck slackened suddenly. She waited for it to tighten even worse before, but it didn't.

Dead.

Gus was dead.

Hayden woke up and gasped for breath, the tears coming to her sightless eyes quickly.

No.

No. She was _not_ going to be the reason he died.

.. ..

Nemo had heard the gunshots, right near him, and he stumbled into a clearing, seeing Liliana, Killy and two people vaguely familiar.

The vaguely familiar woman was on the ground, blood from her wounds as the man and Liliana knelt over her, putting pressure on the wounds.

'who the _Hell_ are you?' Liliana demanded of the man.

'uh, I'm Max,' he said. 'and...you're Liliana? Michelle's wife?'

'yes,' she said tearfully. 'yes.'

'Liliana, I'm sor-' Killy began.

'shut it!' Liliana snapped. 'you don't get to speak. You don't get to speak _ever_.'

'I'm sorry, Liliana, I'm sorry!'

Before Liliana could snap at her again, Michelle coughed.

'Max...Hatch...Jack...' she muttered.

'is she delusional? Did she hit her head?' Liliana worried.

'uhh, what happened?' Nemo asked, slightly nervous at the reactions he would get.

'Max!' Michelle exclaimed as urgently as she could.

'right,' Max muttered, bending down and picking her up, trying to be as careful as possible.

Liliana put a hand on his arm. 'what are you doing?' she asked.

Max looked down at Michelle.

'saving her.'

.. ..

_Hayden walked over to the man sitting at the piano, and sat down next to him._

'_Heart and Soul?' she asked, placing her hands on the keys._

'_okay,' Jack said._

'_you can have the easy part,' she offered._

_Jack smiled and the two started playing._

'_so you can't write your vows, huh?' she asked him._

'_no,' he said._

'_why not? It'd be easy to write,' she said. _

'_oh, have you been married and neglected to tell us?' Dom asked, walking over to them._

'_I'm a singer/guitarist/songwriter, idiot,' she said. 'you just have to write from the heart.'_

'_see, your logic there, is a bit weird,' Dom said. 'sing from the heart...that would require you to have one.'_

'_ooh!' she exclaimed in a fake scandalized voice._

'_those girls are checking you out,' Sarah said, walking in._

'_you're in your PJs,' Jack said._

'_oh, really, Einstein?' Dom said sarcastically._

'_indeed I am,' she said. 'ooh, Hayden, and some guys are checking you out. Or me, but most likely you.'_

'_probably you,' she shrugged. 'are they hot?'_

'_two of them are, the other ones not,' she said. Dom and Jack turned to see who she was talking about._

'_they're from Twice Shy,' Dom said._

'_ooh, they're on my list,' Hayden said._

'_your list?' Dom asked._

'_yes. You see, Tanya, Ellis and I have a bet. We each added two bands – all guy bands – to the list, and basically whoever gets taken home by one member – or more – from each of the six bands, wins bragging rights. Ellis has a thing for Twice Shy, so they're on the list.'_

_Jack, Dom and Sarah looked at her incredulously._

'_I'll say it,' Sarah said. 'slut.'_

_Hayden stood up, picking up her martini. 'you know what they say,' she said. _

'_jealousy is a horrible sickness?' Dom asked._

'_that too, but I was going to say: when you've got it, flaunt it,' she said. _

_Hayden sauntered off to the band members of Twice Shy, once Dom faced her in the right direction._

'_hi,' she smiled. 'I'm Hayden.'_

'_Allen,' the singer said._

'_Oz,' the bassist said._

'_Simon,' the drummer said._

'_are you a fan?' Allen asked._

'_yes, but I'm in the business too, I know how it feels.'_

'_Hayden...' Simon trailed off. 'your voice is familiar. Wouldn't happen to be from No Fury, would you?'_

'_I would,' she smiled._

'_that would explain it then,' Allen said._

'_what?'_

'_the eyes fixed on the wall. You're the blind one.'_

'_I am,' she said, teeth gritted._

'_come on, Al, we'll go upstairs. We've got a big gig tomorrow,' Oz said, keeping them all calm. 'you coming, Simon?'_

'_I want to talk to Miss No Fury here,' he said, giving Oz and Allen a wink, conveying that by talk, he meant sleep with._

'_nice meeting you Hayden,' Oz said, shaking her hand. 'love your music, thinks it's awesome you can play so well without seeing, and we gotta catch up, no music talk, yeah?'_

'_sure,' she said._

_Oz led Allen away, and Simon turned to Hayden. 'need another drink?' he asked._

'_apple martini,' she said. This was going to be easy._

_.. .._

Ana Lucia stood up and looked at them all, addressing the entire room.

'we're moving out,' she announced.

'moving out, where?' Akilina asked.

Serena opened her mouth to say something snide, and Induala interrupted her before she started.

'don't even start, Serena. Again, I will say that Akilina is not one of Them,' she said impatiently.

'they thought you were one of Them?' Luka asked. 'hmmm...I've met one of Them. Believe me, you are the least likely person to be one of Them, if you've met Them.'

'we're moving out to Roxy's people,' Ana Lucia said.

.. ..

Josie rapidly knocked on the door of Hayden's house, and just kept knocking until it was wrenched open, Hayden standing there, hands on her hip.

'what?' she snapped.

Josie grabbed her arm and closed the door as she pulled Hayden across the Barracks.

'Josie, what-'

'not here,' Josie hissed, keeping a grip on her arm with one hand and a grip on the stack of files with the other hand. 'we're being watched.'

'by who?' Hayden demanded.

'by the security section, of course.'

And with that, Josie pulled Hayden into the jungle.

.. ..

'All clear,' Ana Lucia said as they made their way out of the bunker.

'Okay people, listen up,' Constance said. 'We need to gather as much food and water as we can. We all move as fast as we can.

'Maybe you could just take a minute to explain us what the Hell is going on over here that's got you all so on edge,' Michael said.

'yeah, that's a great idea, let's swap stories on the road,' Ana Lucia snapped.

'I think she needs to be slapped,' Luka muttered.

'I will gladly do it,' Sammy muttered back.

Yoon hid a smile and closed her hands around each of their wrists quickly. 'play nice,' she muttered, before turning to Jin and speaking quickly to him.

'I am going to scout,' Eko said, walking off.

'Cindy, Erin, Nic, go with him,' Ana Lucia ordered. 'Libby, Layla and Jonas, get some water, enough for all of us. Take him with you,' she nodded her head to Michael.

'his names Michael, Ana,' Libby said.

'yeah, right,' Ana Lucia said. 'Indy, Lu, Akilina and her brother, see what fruit you can gather. Mindy, go with them,' she added to the young girl.

'Bernard, Constance and Serena, do you want to do some hunting?' Ana Lucia asked. 'Roxy and Sammy, you too.'

'um, I'm opposed to the slaughter of animals,' Roxy said nervously.

'I'll take her place,' Yoon said.

'yeah, you're skilled at killing things,' Sammy muttered.

'pot,' Yoon hissed. 'kettle. Black.'

'we don't have enough knives, Ana,' Constance said.

Luka turned and smirked at Yoon and Sammy.

In unison, the two pulled out four knives each and passed them over, except for one that Yoon kept in her hand.

'hey, Luka,' Yoon said. 'just in case, okay?' she threw it over to him.

'Roxy and I will go and fish,' Ana Lucia continued, ignoring the knives.

'take Jin with you,' Yoon said. 'he may be a pain in my ass, but he knows how to fish.'

Sammy smirked as Yoon translated to Jin to go with them.

'Fine, he comes with us, too,' Ana Lucia sighed.

The groups nodded in unison and parted ways.

.. ..

Josie and Hayden walked into a clearing and Hayden stopped, smelling smoke.

'who else is here?' Hayden asked.

'Emmeline, it's a hazard to smoke in the jungle,' Josie sighed.

'you smoke,' Emmy pointed out.

'at the Barracks and at the beach. Not in the jungle,' Josie said.

'I'm sorry, but is there a point to this?' Hayden interrupted.

'yeah,' Josie sighed. 'Kat's onto us.'

.. ..

Maya scanned the bookcase and finally picked off one that she had read before, but knew she would enjoy, nonetheless.

'Tolstoy, huh?' Oz said over her shoulder and she jumped.

'bloody Hell!' she exclaimed. 'you're getting better at that,' she added, for it was true. In the early days, whenever Oz came up behind Maya, she would know before he spoke, but now he could do so silently, and he relished in the fact that he could do so now.

He smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes, engaging in a glaring competition with him.

'we should probably get back to the beach, check on Deniz and Lucy,' Maya said finally.

'we should,' Oz said, although they remained where they were, staring at each other. He reached out and moved some hair from in front of her wound, and she inhaled slightly as his finger brushed her wound.

The two continued to stare at each other, but the door of the Hatch crashed open and they jumped in surprise, turning to see Max, Michelle in his arms, the both of them covered in blood.

Michelle's blood, the two realized in unison.

Three more people, three unknown people, ran in after them, and Maya and Oz exchanged a look.

'later, yeah?' Oz said to Maya, and she wasn't quite sure if he meant going back to the beach, or something else entirely.

.. ..

Hayden slowly took a seat on a log in the clearing and she turned her head up, her gaze going a few inches above Josie's head.

'Kat's onto us?' Hayden said calmly. 'how?'

'how does Kat do everything?' Josie asked.

Hayden's blind eyes met Josie's.

'how?' Emmy asked, somewhat nervous. If Kat was anything like her mother, it could not be good.

'lying and blackmail,' Josie said.

'but...' Hayden trailed off in thought. 'you're under Kat's protection.'

'I know,' Josie nodded. 'but you aren't.'

Hayden's eyes narrowed.

'I'm not going down for this,' Hayden told her.

'I know,' Josie nodded. 'that's where these files come into this.'

'which files?' Hayden asked.

'the one in her hands,' Emmy said, as if she was an idiot.

'how many times do I have to tell you, Emmy,' Josie said impatiently. 'Hayden's blind.'

'oh, right. Well, Josie has a pile of files in her hands. And they are apparently going to come into this.'

'how?' Hayden asked.

'have you ever framed someone, Hayden?'

.. ..

'what happened?' Jack asked, and with one flourish of his arm, he knocked all the books and the like off the table. 'put her here.'

Max gently laid down Michelle down.

'Kallirroe shot her,' Liliana tearfully told Jack.

'and you are...?' Jack asked her as he looked at Michelle's wound.

'that's Liliana,' Max said.

Jack looked up sharply; he had heard that name before.

'Michelle's wife,' Max continued.

Maya's eyes met Max's. 'come again?'

'she's alive?' Oz asked.

'obviously,' Killy snapped.

'and who are you?' Locke asked her.

'Killy,' she said shortly.

'she shot Michelle,' Liliana and Max said in unison.

'Liliana, I'm sor-' Killy began again, grabbing her arm desperately, but Liliana cut her off, turning quickly and wrenching her arm out of her grip, knocking her back.

'don't touch me!' she hissed angrily. 'don't you _dare _touch me!'

'Michelle?' Jack asked. 'can you hear me?'

'does it look like she can bloody hear you, Jack?' Max asked.

Jack looked at him. 'get to the beach. Get my leather backpack. And get Jason.'

Max nodded and ran out.

Jack blinked. 'I'm just a spinal surgeon. I don't do bullets,' Jack confessed.

Maya blinked back. 'I was shot in the leg a year ago. My sister ripped it out and-'

'what does this have to do with anything?' Liliana all but screeched at her.

'-I stopped the bleeding as she went for help. I know how to hold a gunshot wound shut,' Maya finished calmly.

She looked at Liliana and raised an eyebrow.

'so you know how to-?' Liliana began.

'yes,' Maya said.

'then why are you still standing there, staring at me?'

Maya raised an eyebrow and knelt down next to Michelle, stopping the blood in two of her wounds.

.. ..

_I want to frame him_, Emmy wrote down on a notepad, showing Josie.

Josie looked at Emmy and mouthed "what?"

Emmy emphasized her point by underlining what she had written.

Josie looked at her again. "who?" she mouthed.

Emmy looked up hesitantly, looking at where Hayden was immersed in the file of Scarlett.

'did you know that Scarlett lived on the streets for her whole life before coming here?' Hayden asked. For years before Hayden had come, all files would have Braille on them too. Josie had no idea why, maybe there had been another blind person before Hayden.

'interesting,' Josie muttered as she watched Emmy open a file and show it to her.

Josie gasped and picked up her notepad.

_You want to frame Gus?_ She wrote.

_Yes_.

.. ..

Max ran out onto the beach, out of breath, as he looked around, trying to find Jason.

Finally, he just ran over to Claire.

'hey, Claire,' he gasped for breath. 'have you seen Jason?'

'I think he's up at the caves,' Claire said. 'getting water and flirting with Laura.'

Max began running off.

'Max?' Claire called out after him.

'thanks, Claire!' he yelled out as he entered the jungle.

.. ..

Libby and Layla ran through the jungle, back to the bunker.

'Ana, he's gone,' Libby said.

'what?' Ana demanded. 'who?'

'Michael, he just left,' Layla said. 'Jonas is trying to track him.'

'Let's go. We're leaving now,' Ana Lucia said.

'why? Michael's gone,' Luka said.

'I don't live to please you all,' Ana Lucia said. 'we're heading out, and we're heading out _now_.'

In unison, Luka and Yoon opened their mouths.

'just don't,' Akilina said. 'Ana Lucia's word is final. That's why they threw me in the pit.'

'she threw you in a pit?' Luka's eyes flashed in anger.

.. ..

Josie was starting to see why she was allegedly dark and evil.

Hayden was one of her closest friends, and here she was, helping her out, while Josie and Emmy planned to frame Hayden's boyfriend.

While sitting right next to her.

Josie looked up at Hayden.

_What's wrong?_ Emmy wrote down.

_This will kill her_, Josie replied._ I can't do this._

_Sure you can. You're a Morel. You're a born master of deception_.

Josie sighed.

That was so true.

.. ..

'I'm sorry...' Michelle whispered. 'I forgive you...'

Liliana blinked. 'no. It was my fault, Munyemo. I'm so, so sorry,' she choked out. This was karma.

The door of the Hatch burst open and Max, Jason and Laura ran in.

'where is she?' Jason asked before he saw her. He knelt down. 'hey, Michelle. I'm gonna try my best to fix you, okay?'

'"try"?' Liliana asked.

Jason met her eyes. 'yeah. _Try_. I'm not in the business of making promises to anyone but my sister.'

'well. Try your damn best then.'

.. ..

Laura sat down next to Nemo, Killy, Maya and Oz.

'...and then we got let go,' Nemo finished.

'by who?' Laura asked.

'by Josephine,' Killy said. 'she told us to tell you that she lives up to her word.'

'wonder when we're going to have to repay her,' Maya mused.

.. ..

'what you doing, Shan?' Eli asked, walking up behind her as she packed a bag.

'I'm going to find him,' she told him.

'find who?' Eli asked, although he thought he already knew who.

'Walt. I'm going to find Walt.'

.. ..

Sammy stumbled and knocked into Yoon.

'walk much?' she asked sarcastically.

Sammy scowled and kept walking before he stumbled again, going down onto his knees.

Libby started walking over, but Yoon beat her there, moving his shirt a bit to look at the wound.

'oh, so now you care?' Sammy asked sarcastically. 'now that I'm potentially dying?'

Yoon ignored him. 'it's infected.'

'way to beat around the bush, Lotus,' he continued sarcastically before yelling out in pain when she jabbed him in his wound with her finger. 'damn it, woman!' he hissed.

'sorry,' she said with a falsely apologetic look. 'my finger slipped.'

'I bet it did,' he muttered, grabbing her arm. The two stared at each other.

'seriously, guys,' Luke pushed past them with Akilina, Induala and Lucian. 'save the flirting for another time.'

.. ..

'when did you come here?' Walt asked.

Scarlett, who had sat across from him, her legs tucked underneath her, thought back, not remembering exactly. She had been very disorientated from an attack.

'it must have been three years ago,' she said, unconsciously moving her hair in front of her scars. 'when I was thirteen. Why do you care?'

'I have no one to talk to,' he admitted. 'apart from Cam, Izzie and you. Cam's distant when she's in here and Izzie's a bit creepy.'

'so that leaves me, huh?' she asked. He smiled and nodded. 'so you don't find me creepy? With the whole scar thing I've got going on?'

'no,' he told her. 'you're nice.'

She smiled. 'you're not that bad yourself, kid.'

.. ..

Jason had worked magic.

At least, that was the story that they heard from Liliana, when she came in and gushed that the man was a God among doctors.

'he's pretty great, huh?' Laura asked.

Maya and Oz smirked.

'at being a _doctor_, God,' Laura muttered, seeing the smirks.

.. ..

Sammy stumbled again and Yoon instinctively put her arm around him, helping him walk safe.

'here, let me help,' Bernard said.

'no, I'm good,' Yoon said.

'I got it,' Luka said.

'what? You all suddenly give a damn about me?' Sammy asked. 'especially you, Yoon. I killed your husband.'

'I know,' she said simply.

'I killed your husband and you're fine with that?'

She didn't answer.

'I killed your hu-'

'Ryan! His name was Ryan, damn it,' she hissed. 'and no, I'm not fine with it. But everyone's gotta have someone.'

Sammy was silent when she put her arm around him again.

And he let her.

.. ..

'okay,' Emmy said. 'we better get back to the Barracks.'

Josie was hesitant.

'what?' Emmy sighed.

'I...I want to make sure they got to the beach fine,' she confessed.

'fine,' she rolled her eyes.

'I'll hear you later,' Hayden said to her and she walked out of the clearing with Emmy, their arms full of files.

Josie sighed.

She really hoped that Luka was okay.

.. ..

Sammy was unconscious.

'we're moving out,' Ana Lucia said firmly.

'Maybe if we just rest a little while, he'll regain consciousness,' Libby suggested.

'rest?' Constance raised an eyebrow. 'here? Do you remember Goodwin?'

'hey, funny story,' Yoon snapped. 'I don't remember Goodwin, okay? I don't know who he is, and I'm really sorry for whatever he did to you. I don't know Goodwin, but I know Sammy. And...I don't want him to die.'

'you don-' Luka began, surprised.

'I'm a doctor,' she snapped. 'it's in my training to save people. And I wanna save Sammy. Now, I need help making a stretcher. Any takers?'

.. ..

'I didn't ask you to follow me,' Shannon snapped as Eli followed her through the jungle.

'no, but I wasn't about to let you stay out here alone,' Eli shrugged.

'I don't need your help,' she told him.

'you may not need it, but you're getting it.'

Shannon turned and smiled at him.

.. ..

'holy...' Serena trailed off, looking up the embankment they were going to have to lift Sammy up.

'let's do this,' Constance said confidently.

.. ..

Gus dead.

Gus dead.

Gus dead.

No matter how many times she replayed the dream in her mind, Hayden came to the same conclusion. She would somehow cause the death of Gus.

She wasn't sure if it was a vision or just a nightmare – she couldn't distinguish between them now. But no matter.

Either way she felt guilty.

.. ..

_Hayden turned the stone over in her hand, murmuring to herself._

'_black,' she picked up another one. 'white. Red.'_

'_impressive.'_

_Hayden turned suddenly at the voice and dropped the red rock._

'_sorry,' the man said. 'I didn't mean to startle you.'_

_Hayden knelt down and searched for the rock. She heard the man kneel down next to her and pick up the rock, placing it back where it was._

'_I would have got it,' Hayden muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. 'just because I'm blind, doesn't mean I don't know what's going on.'_

'_I'll keep that in mind,' the man said._

'_I take it you're my new shrink?' Hayden said. 'Harper suggested that I change to you, I guess she can't take my attitude.'_

'_I'm told it's hard to get used to,' the man said, Hayden sensed a smile in his voice. 'would you like to sit down?'_

_Hayden complied and sat on the couch across from the man._

'_so you're Hayden Shephard, huh?' the man asked._

'_and I still haven't caught your name,' Hayden said to him._

'_I'm Angus Rowley. Gus,' he introduced._

'_how long have you been here?' Hayden wondered._

'_only two months,' Gus said. 'and you've been here for two weeks, yes?'_

'_yes.'_

'_it's never easy, being the new person. Tell me what you're thinking. What's your least favourite part of the Island so far? And your favourite part?'_

'_my least favourite part of this Island, this place, is...the way they all stare at me, whisper like they don't think that a blind girl has any use for an Island like this. Tell me, are you one of those people who don't think there is a reason for me to be here?'_

_She heard Gus sigh and run his hand through his hair. 'there is a reason for everything. It may not be apparent to everyone else on this Island, but just like there is a reason for each person to be on this Island, there is a reason for you to be here. You may not know, Ben may not know, but I bet that Fate has something in store for you. Just like it has something in store for the rest of us.'_

'_so you believe that...there is such a thing as destiny, fate?'_

'_yeah, I do. Don't you?'_

'_no. No, I do not believe in destiny. I do not believe there is a reason for everything. I just believe in love.'_

'_really?' _

'_really.'_

_She sensed that he was smiling. 'yeah? Well, maybe I can change your opinion on that.'_

_Hayden smiled. 'try your best.'_

_In the years to come, Hayden would come to understand what he believed in, and he would come to understand what she believed._

_.. .._

They arrived up the top, and they all looked around.

'Cindy?' Ana Lucia asked suddenly. 'where's Cindy?'

They looked around again.

'she was just here,' Nic said.

'I know,' Ana Lucia began to look again even more, walking now.

'Did they take her?' Akilina asked.

'you tell me,' Serena snapped. Induala shot her a glare. 'sorry,' she muttered.

There were whispers suddenly.

'_...trust her...'_

'_...I love you, Laura...'_

'_trust Josie...'_

'_...don't do it...'_

'what the Hell?' Luka asked. He could have sworn he heard Josie's name in there.

Ana took out her gun.

'RUN!'

.. ..

It started raining, and still Shannon ran through the jungle.

'Let's go back,' Eli suggested timidly.

Shannon stopped running suddenly and turned to him. 'why don't you believe in me?' she questioned.

'I do,' Eli said honestly.

'no, you don't! No one does! They see me as a joke!'

'you're not a joke!' he exclaimed. 'I'll always be here to remind you of that.'

'you may say it, but you're just gonna leave me, Eli! Everyone always does. My mom, my dad, Boone...and you will too now.'

'I will _not_ leave you. Not ever,' Eli said. 'I promise, okay? You're my friend and I believe you. Walt is out here. I believe you.'

'You do?' she asked tearfully.

'I do,' he nodded.

Shannon threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

'thank you,' she murmured.

.. ..

'Walt?' Scarlett asked suddenly when he stopped talking and his eyes went distant. 'Walt?'

'shh...' he whispered, almost as if to someone else.

'Walt? What the Hell are you doing?'

.. ..

'shh...'

Shannon turned to Eli.

'Do you see him?' she asked hopefully.

'uh huh,' he said in shock. He may have believed her, but he didn't think they would see him here.

Shannon jumped up

'Walt! Wait!' she ran after him.

After a moment, Eli jumped up too and ran after her.

He heard a gunshot. And then another.

.. ..

Ana Lucia turned and saw a young woman running out, an even younger man just behind her.

She pulled the trigger twice.

.. ..

There was pain in his shoulder, but he didn't pay any mind to it.

He ran out to see Shannon stumbling back, and he saw the blood.

'Shannon!' he exclaimed and she fell into his arms.

And then there was another gunshot.

.. ..

Josie heard the two gunshots, coming from the place she had skilfully passed, knowing people were there.

She turned back and ran forward, looking through the trees, to see Eli holding Shannon, she saw a woman with a gun pointed to them, a woman she didn't recognize.

She continued holding the gun there.

Josie realized that the woman was going to shoot them again, finish off Eli, and she couldn't let that happen.

She pulled the trigger, and red appeared on the woman's forehead as she fell.

.. ..

**I know, I know. Me and these guns. Deal with it, 'kay? And who would have thought that I would have killed Ana Lucia now? Weird, right?**

**Also, I have two new stories if you'd like to check them out. They're both just one shots, but ones called Wine Red and the other one is Shooting Stars. Thanks.**

**Please review, guys!**


	28. Broken

**So sorry for the wait! I feel horrible! Anyway. This is an Induala centric. Enjoy! **

_A nineteen old Induala stared at her parents, not believing a word that she was being told. Dowry? Really? Did her parents need money that badly? That they would sell their daughter?_

'_you cannot be serious,' Induala said defiantly, in their native language._

'_Induala,' her mother said. 'this does not mean that-'_

'_that you don't love her?' Mukunda, her brother, interrupted. 'it sounds that way.'_

'_Mukunda, this has nothing to do with you,' their father said. 'and do not talk to your mother that way. It is disrespectful of her.'_

'_because selling Indy is respecting her too,' he said sarcastically._

'_this is not a discussion,' their father said. 'Induala is getting married to Daruka, and that's final.' _

.. ..

There was yelling. Screaming. Shouting. Whatever you wanted to call it.

Chaos.

Lucian had his arm around both Induala and Akilina, as if shielding them from the horrors in front of them, Layla had Mindy turned into her, and the rest of them looked shell shocked.

The young woman who had shot Ana Lucia rushed towards the now dead blonde girl who Ana Lucia had shot and the young man who was holding her.

'Eli,' the girl with the gun said to the shocked boy.

'Josie...hey,' he said slowly.

She put a hand on his shoulder, before being knocked to the ground by Constance.

'you killed her,' Constance said in a low voice. 'you killed her.'

'and I'd do it again,' Josie said calmly.

Constance went to punch her face, but her fist was grabbed by Roxy.

'Constance!' she exclaimed. 'don't!'

'she killed Ana!'

'and Ana killed Shannon!' Yoon exclaimed.

'I don't know Shannon, but I know Ana Lucia. And this bitch has got to pay!'

'she...' Roxy began. 'she's my sister. Please...don't.'

Constance looked between Roxy and Josie, feeling stupid for not realizing that they were obviously related.

Roxy pulled Constance off Josie and Josie got up too, crossing her arms over her chest.

'why'd you do it?' Constance demanded.

'she killed Shannon,' Josie said simply. 'an eye for an eye.'

'you know, an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind,' Luka said.

Josie turned to him and hid a smile. 'Luka. Nice to see you again. Pity you didn't drown.'

Akilina opened her mouth to snap at her.

'pity you didn't blow up,' Luka snapped back.

The two stared at each other.

'I gotta go,' Josie said finally.

'you're not leaving,' Constance snapped.

'funnily enough, I am.'

Constance put a hand on her shoulder and pressed the gun to it.

'tell me, where?'

'back to my people,' she said.

'to the beach?'

'we're not her people,' Yoon spoke up. 'Josie's One of Them.'

Constance eyes sparked in anger, and she pulled the trigger.

.. ..

'you worry me, Matthew.'

'why's that?' he asked Emmeline, amused as he hooked her up to a machine, the same machine that Josie and Flick had been hooked up to a few weeks prior. The only difference was that they didn't have the rest of the researchers of the Morel Phenomenon there, just the two of them.

'I have only seen you talk to me, Hayden, Josh and Izzie for any length of time, you usually only talk to everyone else for only five minutes, if that. You talk to me for hours, and I've known you a week. It's like you are interested in me,' Emmy said.

Matt let out a laugh. 'you want to know why I spend so much time with you, despite the fact I've only known you a week?' he asked.

'that's what I'm asking,' she told him.

'well, we have had a chance to study Josephine for eighteen years now, and Felicity for a month and a half. And you for a week. Before that, a... friend,' he settled on. 'kept tabs on you and Felicity for eighteen years. And the thing is... you shot someone last year, didn't you?'

Emmeline blinked, remembering. The man, her father, had beaten her for years. He deserved it.

'and you...you are believed by many people to be the dark Morel. You are believed to be the most dangerous Morel. Many believe you to be the one to destroy the entire Island. You are a danger, and I was told that I must take precautions when you're concerned, that you are my responsibility. And it's not as bad as I thought it'd be.'

'aww. They think I'm dangerous. Sweet,' she said sarcastically.

Matt laughed at her response, and turned away to turn on the machines.

'so tell me, do _you_ find me dangerous?'

He didn't reply, and she looked at him in interest. She had had a suspicion, but now she was even more sure. He turned back around, showing no sign that he had heard her.

'you're deaf,' Emmeline said in realization.

'excuse me?' Matt asked in surprise. He had known the girl for a week, and she had already figured it out? Half the people at the Barracks he had known for years, and they didn't know. Granted, he wasn't a social person, but no one actually made effort, apart from Hayden, Izzie and Josh.

She turned away from him and spoke. 'so it isn't true?'

He gently turned her face back to him. 'okay, so I'm deaf. So?'

'I just didn't realize. Until I saw the way that Isobel faces you any time she talks to anyone. But then, no one else does it. Except Hayden and Josh.'

'hardly anyone knows I'm deaf. The ones who do...they treat me differently. They pity me.'

'well, I ain't gonna pity you,' she said matter-of-factly.

'good,' he smiled.

'and I won't tell anyone.'

'thank you,' he told her.

The kind of sentimental moment ended when the door crashed open and a furious Kat was staring there. Emmy looked amused; the only thing the woman was missing was fire behind her, to match the anger in her eyes and her hair flying around in front of her face, the wind blowing it around through the door.

'where is she?' Kat demanded, advancing on Emmeline.

'Kat,' Matt said calmly, pulling her away from Emmy. 'we're busy.'

'where is Josie?' Kat asked.

'Josie...no, name doesn't ring a bell,' Emmy smirked.

Kat looked furious and Matt pushed her out of the room, following her out.

'we. Are. Busy. Katarina,' he stressed each word.

'and I need to know where my daughter is,' Kat said. 'got to talk to her.'

'well, we don't know. Funny, that.'

Kat threw up her hands in defeat and walked away.

Matt shook his head and went inside.

'so, we ready?' Emmeline asked him with a smile.

.. ..

'don't come any closer,' Constance held the gun to Luka's head.

'you're mad,' Luka laughed.

'that may be so, but she's madder,' Constance gestured with her gun to where Josie was unconscious, tied against a tree. Eli was tied up next to her, although he was very aware of what was going on.

'Hey, put it down,' Roxy said, slightly hesitant.

Constance fired past her head. 'you with your sister, Rosanna? You One of Them?'

Roxy shook her head vigorously, shaken up from the shot past her head. 'I sat next to you on the plane. You know that. You know me.'

'no, I don't,' Constance said simply.

.. ..

Claire walked up and down the beach, Aaron asleep in her arms, searching for someone, _anyone_, who she could talk to.

There was no one.

Everyone was somewhere else.

Jack, Kate, Locke, Maya, Michelle and Oz had not returned from their "expedition", if it could be called that, into the jungle, to the Hatch. Luka, Jin – not that he was much of a conversationalist – Yoon, Michael, Walt and Sammy were at sea, trying to find them rescue. Erica was gone. Sayid, Max and Hurley had disappeared a few hours before, Max returning not an hour later, desperate to find Jason. Jason was probably with Max by now, and Laura had been with Jason, so three guesses to where she was now.

'hi, Claire.'

Claire looked up to see Lucy and Deniz standing there.

'hi,' she smiled at them.

Deniz blinked at her and Claire blinked back.

'stop freaking her out,' Aryel walked over with Charlie, each of them taking one of Claire's arms and leading her off.

'thank God you guys are here,' Claire smiled. 'you would not _believe _how hard it is-'

'to find someone to talk to?' Charlie asked. 'tell me about it. Where is everyone, anyway?'

'that's a good question,' Sun walked up to them with Min-Hee in her arms. 'I'm worried. Everyone is gone. I am so very worried.'

'aren't we all?' Claire asked.

.. ..

Yoon put water to Sammy's lips.

'drink, dammit,' she muttered.

'Constance, he's getting worse,' Layla looked up at her.

'we should just get to their camp,' Libby added. 'it was an accident; they'll understand. Ana Lucia didn't mean to shoot them.'

'just like she,' she nodded towards Josie. 'didn't mean to shoot Ana?'

'oh, I meant it,' Josie said hoarsely, having just regained consciousness.

Constance turned to her, pointing the gun at her.

'what?' she demanded.

'an eye for an eye,' Josie said simply.

Constance narrowed her eyes at Josie and her grip tightened around the trigger.

'you shoot her, and I will shoot you,' Luka said calmly.

Akilina stared at him like he was crazy, which, evidently, to her he was. 'she's one of them,' Akilina said in their native language.

'so?' Luka asked.

Constance's grip slackened and she sighed.

'look,' Yoon said angrily to Constance. 'Sammy is dying. I want to take him back to my camp.'

'I will help you,' Induala said, helping Yoon to pick up Sammy.

'he wouldn't do this for you,' Constance said.

'I know,' Induala said. 'but I'm not doing this for him.'

'Indy,' Lucian and Akilina said at the same time.

'Lu, Lina, I appreciate the concern, but I can do this.'

And with that, Yoon and Induala left the clearing with Sammy between them.

.. ..

_The mirror shattered, and she fell._

_Induala fell to the floor, a hand to her face, blinking back the tears that were stinging in her eyes._

_She heard the sound of Daruka leaving the room, the door slamming shut behind him and she let the tears fall, as she sat up._

_She brushed her hair out of her face, and she shakily stood up, seeing her reflection in the broken mirror, the mirror that Daruka had thrown her into._

_A bruise was forming around her eye, a few gashes on her face._

_Induala sighed._

_Just another day in the life of Induala Karim._

.. ..

'I think you should let them go,' Libby suggested timidly.

'she's One of Them,' Constance said calmly.

'but he's not.'

Luka stood up with one of the water bottles, and began walking over to Josie and Eli.

'what are you doing?' Constance asked.

'giving them water,' Luka said coolly. 'you want to shoot me for it? Go ahead.'

Constance sighed and let him give them water.

'hey,' Luka said.

'who is she?' Eli wondered.

'her name is Constance,' Luka explained, giving him water. 'she was on the plane. The tail section. All of them were. Even my sister.'

'Akilina?' Josie asked.

'yes.'

'my mother lied then. She said that your sister was dead,' Josie said before Luka lifted the bottle to her lips.

'you guys okay?' Luka questioned.

'nothing like a bullet to the shoulder first thing in the morning,' Josie said sarcastically.

'it really hurts,' Eli added.

'of course it does,' Akilina joined them. 'it's a gunshot wound.'

'who are you?' Eli wondered.

'I believe that is Akilina,' Josie said dryly.

'and you are one of Them?' Akilina asked her.

'I am,' Josie said coolly.

Akilina narrowed her eyes and Josie narrowed hers back.

'so...' Eli interrupted the glaring match going on between the two girls. 'where are Michael and Walt?'

'Walt was taken,' Luka's eyes met Josie's.

'by her people,' Akilina said in understanding.

'Josie...' Eli said. 'you saved my life. She would have killed me. You saved my life.'

'what are friends for, hey?' Josie asked.

.. ..

Scarlett looked at Walt, who stared back.

'want to talk about what happened, kid?' Scarlett asked.

'I don't know what happened,' Walt confessed to her. 'one minute I was talking to you, and then it felt like I was somewhere else. In the jungle, I think. And then I was talking to you again.'

'and you find Izzie the creepy one,' Scar joked.

.. ..

Liliana intently watched the sleeping Michelle.

'she's going to be okay, isn't she?' Liliana asked Jack, not being able to bring herself to look up at him. She had eyes only for Michelle.

'yeah,' Jack told her. 'Michelle will be okay.'

Liliana sighed and nodded.

.. ..

'don't let it go to your head too much, okay?' Laura smirked.

'what's that?' Jason asked. 'I can't hear you over the sound of being a God.'

'a God amongst doctors,' Laura corrected him.

'a God nonetheless,' he grinned at her.

'you think of yourself very highly, don't you?'

'I think of you very highly, too.'

Laura turned to him. 'do you_ try _to be charming?'

'no. I _know_ I am.'

Laura stared at him.

'what is this, flirting central?'

The two turned towards the doorway, where the voice had come from and they were pleasantly surprised.

'we need your help, Jason,' Yoon said from where she was standing in the doorway with Induala, Sammy being carried in between the two of them.

'you don't say.'

.. ..

'what are we doing here?'

Constance stopped taking the magazine of the gun out and slammed it back in, looking up at Bernard.

'I mean, their camp has got to be close. I want to get back to my wife, Constance,' he told her.

She raised an eyebrow at him. 'tell me again Bernard, how long have Ana and I kept you alive out here?' he didn't answer. 'exactly.'

'we just want to know what you're doing. What's the plan?' Libby asked.

'she has no plan,' Josie scoffed. 'she only has-'

'her guilt?' Eli asked.

'that too, but I was going for gun,' Josie sighed.

'so...you gonna let us go?' Eli asked Constance.

'...no.'

'you know,' Josie said. 'my people...they will come looking for me soon enough,' she said. 'and when they find out you've tied me up...well, my mother ain't gonna be happy.'

.. ..

Locke looked at Yoon and Induala.

'what happened out there?' he asked.

'there was an accident,' Yoon dismissed his query and went back to the other room to help fix Sammy up.

'What kind of accident?' Locke asked Induala.

'a...woman was shot and killed by one of my people,' Induala said. 'so another girl shot her.'

'who were these people?' Locke asked.

'the one who shot your person, her name was Ana Lucia,' Induala said. 'she shot a tall woman with blonde hair. Shannon, I think. There was a younger man with her, and a blonde girl.'

Locke nodded in understanding. 'You said there were fifteen of you from the tail section?'

'no, now there's thirteen. Ana's dead, and Cindy was taken,' Induala said.

'why didn't the rest of them come back with you? And Luka, Jin?'

'because...they can't yet,' Induala said.

.. ..

_Induala rubbed in her makeup, so her face looked at least partway normal, what with all the bruises and cuts, it was hard to make it look like she wasn't abused._

_But she tried her best._

_There was a knock at the door of her hotel room, and she checked her makeup one more time before heading towards it._

_Maybe it was an associate of Daruka's trying to find him?_

_She opened the door and stared in shock._

'_Mukunda?'_

'_hello, my sister,' he smiled. 'there isn't much time.' _

_.. .._

Sammy coughed the pill up.

'swallow it,' Jack said.

'you're bedside manner's horrible,' Jason said bluntly.

'yours isn't that much better,' Yoon snapped.

'coming from a spy,' he shot back.

Yoon took the pill from Jack and the water.

'Sammy?' she whispered. 'please listen to me...the only thing, the only way, you will get better is if you take this pill. I want you to swallow it. Okay? I need you to.'

She put the pill in his mouth and held up the water for him to drink.

'swallow, swallow,' she said softly. He did so, and she smiled. 'good.'

Jason and Jack stared at her.

'I may be a spy, but I'm good at my job other job,' she smiled.

.. ..

Bernard, Erin, Serena, Layla and Lucian began to pick up their bags.

'What are you doing?' Constance asked.

'I'm going, Constance,' Bernard said. 'we all are.'

She looked at Libby, who was hesitant about this.

'What about you?' Constance asked.

'I just don't think you're the best judge of character right now,' Libby said carefully. 'Ana Lucia was your friend, even before the crash, back when you were both on the LAPD, so it affects you a lot more than it does us. And I was with you when you and Ana put Akilina in the pit.'

'Alright, you want to go?' Constance asked. 'go. All of you.'

She looked at all her people, plus Jin, Roxy and Luka, who looked at Josie and Eli.

'go on,' Josie nodded.

.. ..

'I want you to take me back there,' Maya said to Induala.

'no,' Induala said firmly. 'I can't.'

'please. I just need to make sure nothing's gonna happen to them. I was a negotiator for awhile; I can calm people down with ease. Please.'

'follow me,' Indy said to Maya.

.. ..

'where are you from?' Constance asked.

'right here, born and raised,' Josie said, and although it was true, she had a sarcastic undertone to it.

'I'm from LA,' Eli said, and for a captive, he was quite cheerful. 'Are you going to kill us?'

'how old are you?' Constance asked.

'I'm sixteen,' Eli said.

'eighteen,' Josie said.

Constance stood up and took the knife from her waist. She swung it at them, but it was only to cut the rope, although there was a small scream that came from Eli at how close it was.

Josie stood up and helped Eli up.

'c'mon,' Josie muttered to Eli, and they both went over to Shannon's body, picking it up.

Constance picked up Ana Lucia's body and followed them out of the clearing.

The three of them met up with Induala and Maya a few minutes of walking later.

.. ..

_Mukunda entered her hotel room and walked around it._

'_what are you doing here?' she asked. 'what do you mean, there isn't much time?'_

'_I've been trying to find you, Indy, for months, maybe even years,' he was paranoid, looking out the windows. 'your husband-' he spoke the name with disgust. '-will be back soon, and we need you gone by then.'_

'_what do you mean?' she asked._

'_I have heard how unhappy you are in this marriage, he hits you, yes?' Mukunda asked._

'_...yes,' she admitted._

'_I am here to get you away from this...monster.'_

_For the first time in a long time, Induala felt a true smile coming along._

_.. .._

A group walked out of the jungle, led by Jin, Yoon – who had joined them again to get her stuff she had left behind – and Luka. Everyone looked in shock. There were some people they hadn't seen before.

Sun quickly handed Min-Hee to the closest person – James – and ran towards Jin, hugging him tightly.

'Lucy!' a voice shrieked, and a redhead blur ran across the beach, tackling Lucy to the ground. The Tail Enders looked surprised at Melinda's energy and volume.

'Mindy!' Lucy exclaimed, hugging her sister back.

Yoon walked over to James and her daughter.

'Yoon-Cha,' he smiled.

'James,' she returned the smile. 'you've never held a baby before, have you?'

'never,' he confessed. 'that I know of.'

She smiled and took Min-Hee from his arms. 'hello, sweetheart,' she said softly to her daughter, kissing the top of her head. She looked at James. 'anymore memories?'

'the occasional Déjà vu moment, but other than that, nothing,' he said. 'I'm glad you're safe, Yoon-Cha.'

She smiled at him and kissed his cheek. 'I'm glad you are too,' she said.

.. ..

'I'm Lucian,' he introduced. 'Lucian Jones.'

'as in the comic book artist?' Hurley asked.

'uh...yeah,' Lucian said.

'Dude! I love Blue Moon! It's the best,' Hurley informed him.

'thanks...'

'how have I not known this?' Induala asked, for she too had joined them on the beach, Killy, Nemo, Oz and Kate had all come down with her.

'you didn't ask,' Lucian told her.

'true, true,' Akilina said.

'Akilina,' a heavily accented voice said.

Akilina froze and turned around slowly, facing her Petro, facing her father.

'you speak English?' Petro asked slowly.

'I...do,' she said. 'I do.'

Her eyes were going wide in fear, and Induala knew that this must have been her father, the man who abused her.

Induala put her arm around Akilina, and Lucian gripped Akilina's hand.

'hey, you must be Petro,' Lucian said. 'I'm Lucian, and this is Induala. Lina's told us _so _much about you,' Lucian said through gritted teeth, relaying exactly what Lina had told them.

'oh...how wonderful,' Petro said.

And with that, Petro walked away and Akilina let out a sigh of relief.

Her father finally knew she spoke English, and she was scared.

But she had Lucian and Indy on her side, all was good.

.. ..

'I'm Layla,' she smiled at the petite blonde girl with the baby.

'I'm Claire and this is Aaron,' she said.

'he's so adorable,' Layla told her. 'how old is he?'

'um, he's about a week old,' Claire said.

'you had him on the Island? Wow. That's impressive. Good on you,' she told her.

Claire smiled at her.

.. ..

'hey Oz, Oz, Oz!' Lucy exclaimed energetically.

'yes, Lucy, Lucy, Lucy?' he asked, rolling his eyes but smiling at the same time.

'guess who this is!' she exclaimed, gesturing to Mindy next to her.

'uh...well, she couldn't _possibly _be your sister, that's too obvious,' he said sarcastically.

'she is! This is Mindy! She was alive, I told you she was!'

Oz smiled at the twins and shook his head at the energy.

To be that young again.

.. ..

'where the _Hell_ were you?' Aryel demanded, and with surprising speed she hobbled over to Roxy and threw her arms around her.

'oh, yeah, nice to see you too, Aryel, I'm great, and you?' she said sarcastically.

'you're turning into me. Please don't,' Aryel said seriously. 'now, where were you?'

'I got lost and then I got found by the tail section,' Roxy shrugged.

'Roxy, it's nice to see you,' Charlie hugged her and Roxy gave a pointed look to Aryel.

'see? Seeee?'

'whatever,' Aryel muttered.

.. ..

'Max?' Liliana said softly as they sat on either side of Michelle. 'I never...'

'you never what?' he asked, his brow crinkling, confused.

'I never thanked you for being there for Michelle when I couldn't,' she said. 'by the sounds of it, you were one of the things that kept her going. So thank you.'

.. ..

Maya and Induala were adamant that they should be the ones to carry Shannon into camp, Eli and Josie were both suffering from gunshot wounds, and they were thankful for the exchange. Constance refused any help in carrying Ana Lucia, just said she could do it alone.

So with Constance in the front, they walked out onto the beach.

What everyone there saw first was an unknown woman with another unknown, albeit dead, woman. And then Eli and Josie, both with bloody shoulders.

And then they saw one unknown woman and Maya carrying the pale body of the one and only Shannon Rutherford.

All was silent.

.. ..

**Again, sorry for the wait. Imagine that...someone else got shot this chapter. That's new. *end sarcasm***

**I'm sorry if this chapter is weird (i.e. if someone seems to be in two places at once, but I think I fixed the only problem with that. Yes, it did happen), but I wrote half of it straight after the last chapter, and the second half in the past two hours. So yeah. It may be very different.**

**Again, the huge wait between chapters is for several reasons:**

**Firstly, I am so fixated on High School Never Ends.**

**Secondly, I am going to Japan in four weeks, so I'm getting ready for that with packing and whatnot.**

**Thirdly, I have a heap of schoolwork.**

**And finally, I am developing something which is apparently called a...social life? Is that right? I know, I was shocked too. :D**

**Review?**

**200 reviews, maybe?**


	29. Forever Came And Went

**Sorry for the wait! Here's the next chapter! It's Esther flashbacks. Enjoy!**

He heard the authoritative sound of shoes along the hallway and he knew who those shoes belonged to. He was proved correct when Devika pushed open the door of the berth and walked over to where he was lying on the bed.

'we have our first stop soon, Adem,' she told him. 'we better get ready.'

'okay,' he nodded, staring at her intently.

'Adem...' she trailed off. 'stop staring at me like you want to kiss me.'

'but what if I do?' he asked.

She let out a laugh which was cut short when he did indeed lean up and kiss her.

.. ..

'where have you been?' Kat demanded as soon as Josie entered the house. She knew she sounded like an angry mother, something she didn't like to do, it made her seem like she was a nagging woman, but Josie had gone too far.

Josie ignored her, and walked around the room, looking through cupboards, trying to find something.

'did you go to the survivors?' Kat asked.

Josie opened a drawer.

'did you tell them our plans?'

Josie pulled out a first aid kit.

'what did you do?'

Josie threw her the first aid kit, and Kat looked puzzled. Until Josie pulled off her jacket, and revealed the bloody shoulder.

And then Kat sat down next to Josie and began taking the bullet out.

'I was coming back,' Josie said. 'and I heard two gunshots. Shannon had been shot, and killed. Eli had been shot, and was about to be shot again, to kill him. So I shot the woman who shot them, Ana Lucia.'

'that doesn't explain why you've been shot,' Kat said.

'I provoked another woman, who shot me in the shoulder for be "One of Them",' she emphasized her point by doing quotation marks with her hands.

'Shannon's dead,' Josie said calmly. 'and...I wanna go back there. For the funeral.'

'then go,' Kat shrugged.

.. ..

_Esther walked out into the waiting room and looked around the room at all the different people. An older couple, a young single woman, a couple younger looking couple, a man by himself...wait. what? A man by himself in a fertility clinic? What. The. Hell?_

_Esther shrugged it off and looked at the clipboard in her hand, saying her next patient._

'_Rom?' she called out._

_And the man stood up._

_She sighed, wondering what was going on, but led him to the office anyway. She took a seat behind her desk._

'_Mr Rom. Are we waiting for your wife?' she asked politely._

_The man chuckled and showed her his hand. 'I'm not married, Dr Sahin, and I'm not here for fertility treatment. I'm a representative of Mittelos Bioscience, and we were wondering if you would be interested in working for us.'_

_Esther didn't know quite what it was about this man, but she was inclined to listen._

_.. .._

Yoon held Min-Hee close to her chest, hearing her baby breathe in and out as she slept, as Yoon stared at Sammy's unconscious form on the bed.

She heard a groan from the bed, and she carefully placed Min-Hee into the makeshift crib Locke had helped her put together before he left for the funeral.

'Sammy?' she asked softly. 'Sammy?'

She approached him and knelt down next to him.

'Sammy?'

Hands closed around her neck.

'you're a spy,' Sammy's eyes snapped open and he was looking at her, but no, it wasn't _really _him. 'you lied to me. You lied, Yoon! And now you caused the death of me. Why'd you lie to me?'

Yoon wrenched her way out of Sammy's – no, not Sammy's, this wasn't Sammy – grip, and she picked up Min-Hee, leaving the room and soon the Hatch, desperate.

.. ..

'hey,' Claire approached Roxy and Constance, with Aryel and Charlie by her side and Aaron in her arms.

'hey, Claire,' Roxy smiled brightly.

'are you the one that shot Josephine?' Aryel asked Constance.

'ooh, an icebreaker, nice,' Charlie rolled his eyes.

'I am,' Constance said coolly.

'awesome. I hate that bitch,' Aryel said. 'Aryel Demaree.'

'Constance Phillips,' she introduced.

'hey, Phillips, heard you were moving to Australia,' Laura and Jason approached them.

'Britt,' Constance smiled. 'I heard you were moving to Hostage Rescue.'

The two hugged.

'stayed with the LAPD,' Constance said.

'stayed with the FBI,' Laura told her.

'you're FBI?' Aryel asked.

Jason gave her an incredulous look. 'how have you missed that?'

'does it _look_ like your lives interest me?' Aryel asked, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

.. ..

Josie approached the cages, and looked straight at Erica.

'Shannon's dead,' Josie said bluntly.

'what?' Erica asked in shock, standing up and putting her hands on the bars of the cage.

'yeah, she was shot by someone who thought she was one of my people, so I shot that woman, and another woman shot me in the shoulder,' Josie said. 'it was a real shootout. Eli was shot too, but he's okay.'

'good,' Erica sighed. 'you...you saved him?'

'I did,' Josie said.

Erica shoved her hand into her pocket, grasped a bit of paper and then grasped Josie's hand, passing her the note.

'I'm going to the beach,' Josie said. 'her funeral.'

'okay,' Erica said softly. 'give the guys hugs from me, okay?'

'okay,' Josie said.

.. ..

'_here we go,' he said to her. 'watch your step.'_

_Esther gladly took the hand that was offered to her to help her out of the submarine, she was still a bit dizzy from the ride. She gasped in awe at what was in front of her. Possibly the most beautiful sight she had ever seen, a beautiful Island._

_She looked around to see the hand she had gripped was Ethan's, the man who had first recruited her._

'_Hello, Dr Sahin,' he smiled at her. 'you know me as Mr Rom, but it's actually Dr Rom. Ethan,' he added._

'_Esther,' she smiled. 'just call me Esther.'_

_He nodded. 'I'm looking forward to working with you, Esther.'_

'_you too,' she said faintly._

.. ..

'Shannon Rutherford...' Laura trailed off. 'she was...okay, I kind of wanted to hit her when I first met her,' she admitted, laughing slightly at the memory. 'but then I got to know her, and Shan...she was a fighter.'

She stared down at the body wrapped in the blanket, and opened her mouth again, but nothing came out.

She looked around helplessly at the others.

'Shannon was a very opinionated woman,' Jason helped her out. 'she...'

'she was sure of herself,' Eli interrupted him. 'she was my friend, and once she set her mind on something, she will be Hell bent on doing it. Was,' he corrected quietly. 'Shan was awesome.'

'she had a fire within her,' a voice rang across the beach, and many people looked up to see Josie standing on the edge of the jungle, her arm bandaged and in a makeshift sling.

'what the _Hell_ are you doing here?' Laura demanded.

'look, I know you don't really like me, because my people killed your friend,' Josie said. 'but...I wanted to be here for Shannon's funeral,' she confessed.

Eli and Luka nodded in unison and as she walked closer to them all, the two boys pulled Josie in between them. Luka's fingers grazed her own, and she took a grip on his hand, and Eli's arm was around her shoulders. Eli's other hand was gripping her free hand, and she shoved Erica's note into it inconspicuously.

'Shannon was one of the liveliest women I have ever known,' another voice came from the jungle, and Michelle emerged, heavily supported by Max, Liliana and Oz. 'she always saw the good in people, at least...at least she did with me. Shannon was special. She won't be forgotten.'

'no,' Eli agreed. 'she won't.'

He bent down and picked up a handful of sand, throwing it over the body.

.. ..

It wasn't long after the funeral that Josie, Eli and Luka sat at one end of the beach, all of them peering at the note from Erica.

_Eli, Luka, and I'm assuming Josie,_

_Don't come looking for me. I know, you're probably shocked by me saying this, but don't. There's these people I'm with, Dom, Flick and Eva, and we're trying to get out. And chances are, Josie, Hayden and Emmy will get us out. We're working on a plan. It's-_

'you know, we don't trust you, right?' Jason said, interrupting their reading.

'yeah,' Josie said. 'I understand why, too.'

'what are you all reading?' Jason asked suspiciously, going to take it out of their hands, but Josie grabbed it and flicked her lighter, burning the note to nothing in a matter of seconds.

Jason shook his head in disbelief and walked away.

'Josie!' Eli exclaimed.

'what? Didn't you get to read it all?' she asked.

'no!'

'me neither,' Luka said. 'what about you?'

'yeah,' Josie lied easily. 'I got it. See you both soon.'

She began to walk into the jungle.

So this was a lie, but the two of them didn't have to know that. After all, Erica's plan wouldn't work.

But her own would.

.. ..

_Several years later, Esther leaned over Ethan as he slept, reaching for her glasses so she could see properly. When he pressed a kiss to her neck, she jumped, not knowing he was awake. He chuckled and she swatted him playfully._

'_you shut up,' she told him, giving him a small kiss. 'anyway, I gotta get to Juliet's place.'_

'_so do I,' he said. 'she needs me to fix the plumbing or something.'_

'_have fun,' she smirked, getting up and heading to the bathroom._

'_Esther,' he said, grabbing her hand, and pulling her back over to him, making her sit down on the bed as he sat up. He reached behind him and grabbed a small box, before passing it to her._

_She looked at him before turning back to the box and opening it, to see a diamond ring._

'_I love you,' he told her. 'and I want to marry you, Esther. If you'll have me.'_

'_I...I don't believe in marriage,' she told him. 'you know that. But I...I'll think about it, okay?' she sighed, softening the blow with a kiss._

_He knew her answer would be something like this, so he nodded and smiled._

_Almost an hour later, during the book club, as she argued with Carlos and Cam about the book, Esther came to a decision._

_And then they felt an earthquake, or something like it._

_After rushing outside, they all saw a plane come apart. _

'_...Ethan, Josephine, get up there to that fuselage. There may actually be survivors; and you three are part of them. Listen, learn, and don't get involved. I want lists in 3 days. Go,' Ben said._

_Ethan looked up to where Esther was and she took her hand out of her pocket, where she had slipped the ring onto her finger, and held it up so he could see. Ethan smiled and mouthed "I love you forever" before running off after Josie._

'_I love you too,' she murmured. _And please, don't get yourself killed_, she added mentally._

_.. .._

Izzie tapped her fingers on her arm. She knew it was coming, and she was quite curious as to how they would attempt to accomplish it. So she sat in the security offices and watched the secondary tapes that scarcely anyone knew about and waited for them to act.

And they did.

It was genius, actually.

Erica and Eva had helped Flick onto Dom's shoulders, and she pulled herself up through the bigger gapped bars up the top of the cage. As she was doing this, Eva was helping Erica onto Dom's shoulders and then Flick pulled her through. Eva got onto Dom's shoulders and the two younger girls pulled Eva up, and then Dom, having the amazing upper body strength he did, climbed up the sides of the cage and then across to where they were, before pulling himself up.

Izzie had to hand it to them. They were good.

She picked up the walkie.

'Kat. The prisoners are escaping,' she said into it.

'what?' Kat demanded.

'they're escaping,' Izzie repeated calmly.

'not if I can help it,' she heard Kat murmur into the walkie and a few moments later, Kat ran past the room and Izzie waited a moment before rushing in the direction that Kat had just come from.

She looked left and right before ducking into the room that Kat, in her haste, had left unlocked – exactly the way Izzie figured it to be.

Although Kat was a tidy person herself, it would never cease to amaze Izzie how unorganized she kept her files. Of course, this may well have been so that people – people like Izzie – couldn't easily find a file. However, Kat had underestimated who might do this. Izzie was, after all, a psychometric, so it wasn't long until she found the files she needed.

_A. Lefèvre. _

_A. Patel._

_D. Sahin._

_M. Straume._

_V. Straume._

Izzie took the essential pages out and put the files back, as she heard someone coming. She had no time to get out of the room without being seen, so she folded the pages up and shoved them in the waistband of her jeans before sitting down and picking up the file on V. Straume.

'what are you doing in here?'

Izzie turned around, seeing Gus in the doorway, looking at her suspiciously.

Izzie sighed. 'you must know, you must have read my file,' she told him, showing him the file that was hers in her hands. 'I walked past, and I saw the door open and I... I just wanted to know about her. You know?'

Gus sighed and took the file out of her hand. 'I understand. But you're not meant to be in here.'

'yeah,' she sighed. 'I know.'

'let's go,' he told her.

He led her out and Izzie hid a smile. There was not a person she couldn't fool.

.. ..

Locke, James, Jack, Roxy and Constance all entered the Hatch to hear the alarm going off and to see Sammy lying on the ground.

Locke went to the computer, while the others all went to Sammy.

James and Jack lifted Sammy back to the bad.

'where's Yoon?' Roxy wondered.

.. ..

It was the middle of the day and Esther was drunk.

No one would have thought anything by this – except that Esther didn't drink. At the Barracks, the news had gotten around that she had arrived at work drunk, at which Juliet sent her home. And then after she had left, Juliet had sent Gus over, but Esther wouldn't talk to him, she had sent him away from her door, despite the fact he could hear the sounds of her throwing stuff around the house.

It had been Renata of all people who had pushed her way into the house and watched Esther for a good hour before leaving. In that hour, Esther had given up destroying the house, and instead was lying on the couch and staring at her engagement ring.

Renata had whispered an "I'm sorry for your loss" at Esther before leaving, not realizing that the look on Esther's face was the one she got whenever she got an idea.

.. ..

James approached Yoon, who was sitting on a log in the jungle, holding Min-Hee close to her.

'Yoon...?' he asked hesitantly.

'trying to breastfeed here, why are you interrupting me?' she asked, not even caring enough to put fire in her voice.

'because...I'm worried about you,' he told her. 'what are you doing out here? What happened in the Hatch?'

'just...leave it,' she sighed.

'Sammy...' he began. 'what happened with-'

'is he okay?' she asked.

'yeah, yeah, he's fine,' he assured her.

'I'm sorry,' she sighed as she began to button up her shirt again.

She stood up and began walking away.

He grabbed her arm. 'Yoon...'

'let go of me,' she said.

'Yoon,' he finally got her to face him, and he saw that her eyes were read.

'Yoon, it's okay,' he told her, pulling her closer to him.

'I hate this place!' she exclaimed into his shoulder.

'it's okay, it's alright,' he told her.

She looked at him and leaned up, kissing him deeply.

He kissed her back, slightly confused as to exactly _why _she was kissing him.

Suddenly, she broke away from him and looked shocked, before rushing off.

James stared after her. What the Hell just happened?

.. ..

_He had come back, and all had been well. She had no reason to worry, he was fine. But now he wanted to go back, to get Claire._

'_Ethan!' she snapped angrily. 'can't you give it a rest? She seems fine; can't she just give birth there?'_

_He raised an eyebrow at her. 'I would have thought you of all people would want to study this.'_

'_oh, I do, but why do you have to put yourself in danger to get her here?' she asked._

'_because...think of the women who may be able to give birth eventually if we can research on Claire and it works out fine?' he asked her. 'you could,' he reminded her._

'_I know,' she placed a hand on her flat stomach, she had wanted a child for so damn long, but this Island made it impossible for her, or anyone else to bear a child and survive. 'I know. But if you're gonna risk your life for it, I don't care. Your life if more important to me. You're my fiancée.'_

_He smiled at her. 'I am, aren't I?' he said. 'has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?'_

'_it does,' she agreed. 'but Ethan...what if you get hurt?'_

'_what if Claire dies?' he asked._

'_what if you die?' she shot back._

'_I will do my best not to die on you, Esther Sahin,' he said. 'after all, what kind of "rest of my life with you" would this be?'_

_She kissed him, a kiss that wasn't the last one, in her mind – until, you know, it was._

_.. .._

Josie approached the cages, to see that they were empty. No...they didn't? How did the possibly figure out a way to escape without anyone noticing?

Juliet passed her.

'Juliet! Where's the prisoners?' Josie asked.

'you don't know?' Juliet asked in surprise. 'they escaped, and Kat, Josh and Krist went after them and got them back. They were all relocated. Felicity was moved to Hydra Island for awhile, just to get her away from you and Emmeline, I think, whereas Evangeline was moved underground, Dominic was moved into a house, as was Erica.'

'moved into houses?' Josie asked. 'really? Whose?'

'Dominic is in with Carlos and Joshua, and Erica is in with Renata.'

'okay...' Josie trailed off, and by the look on Juliet's face, Juliet had given her this information for a reason: she knew what Josie was planning.

With that, Josie walked off, already concocting a plan in her head.

.. ..

'Sammy?' Yoon asked softly as she sat next to him. 'can you hear me? Sammy? ...Ryan?' she asked, feeling stupid, but he stirred, so she continued. 'damn, I'm crazy, but you could be in there...you asked me a question,' she whispered. 'you...you asked me why I lied to you. It wasn't because you were a means to an end, that I couldn't tell you that I was eventually going to kill you. In fact, it was the complete opposite,' she told him.

Soundlessly, James watched her from the doorway.

'I lied to you Ryan, because...I knew I wouldn't be able to stand the way you looked at me, like I betrayed you, like I never loved you...when the truth is...I lied to you because I loved you. Because I didn't want you to leave me. And...now you have. And every time I look at Sammy, every time I think about him, feel something for him...I see you. I see you lying dead on the floor of our apartment, the way Sammy left you...and I feel sick, Ry. But every time I see James, you don't cross my mind. So...I don't know. Should I think about Sammy because I see you and remember how much I love you? Or should I think about James, because I don't think about you and don't hurt? What should I do?' she whispered.

'you should kiss me,' without opening his eyes, Sammy had spoken.

And then she did kiss him and over her shoulder, James walked away.

.. ..

Back in the computer room, Michael looked at the computer, trying to see how it all worked, how it was connected to the timer. Suddenly there was a beep from the computer and he looked up to see there was still twenty-three minutes left on the timer. He then looked down at the computer to see one word:

_Hello?_

Michael began typing. "Hello?"

_Who is this? _

"This is Michael. Who is this?"

Nothing, and then...

_Dad?_

.. ..

Esther Sahin was the type of woman who knew what she wanted. Even when she was a little girl, she knew that she had a way with words, a way that made people do what she wanted them to.

Sure, the rest of her sisters were manipulators, they knew what they wanted. But Devika didn't seem innocent. Maya didn't have the small smile down. Sitara didn't have the guts to even manipulate. And Shrina was known to be a great manipulator, but everyone expected it, so protected themself from it.

But Esther had a way with words, a way that people didn't give her credit for.

Esther knew what she wanted.

And that was her fiancée back.

She would get Ethan back.

.. ..

**Again, I'm sorry for the wait. But you all should review despite that. Want to know why? It's my Sweet Sixteenth today, and it will make me happy :)**

**Something that's been annoying me, guys: Yoon/Sammy or Yoon/James in the long run?**

**So yes, please review!**


	30. Tears Don't Fall

**Here's the next chapter, sorry for the wait. It's one of a few Christmas Presents to you lovely readers. Enjoy! **

Esther breathed in and out slowly, trying to remain calm as she scanned the beach, not even really noticing the people on the beach, her eyes only paying attention to the graves, the five graves on one side of the camp, and a single lone grave on the other side.

She knew who's grave the single one must have been. The one they didn't care about, the one she _did_ care about.

Ethan.

She went to move to another tree to get a closer look, but she was hit from behind and she fell to the ground.

.. ..

_Got it._

_Maya put down her sniper rifle and turned to the man and woman at her side._

'_bullseye,' Devika praised her youngest sister._

'_slightly off centre,' Adem said scathingly._

'_Adem,' Devika hit him on the shoulder and shot him a warning look. 'Maya's only a child,' she reminded him, placing a hand on her stomach._

'_I'm not,' Maya insisted._

'_you just turned twelve, Maya,' Devika said. 'I'm almost twenty,' she added as if to outline the age difference even more._

'_but I still got better at my age now then you did when you were my age,' Maya argued. 'same with Shrina, Mohinder and Tara. Oh, and Esther!' She exclaimed and Devika let out a laugh at the memory of Esther almost shooting her own foot off._

'_oh, of course, Esther!' Devika laughed. She passed Maya back the gun and stood behind her._

'_let's see if you can do better than her while temporarily blinded?' Devika placed her hands over Maya's eyes and Maya shot blindly, hitting the target in the same spot as before._

_Devika let out a laugh._

'_you'll make a fine assassin, Maya,' she kissed the top of Maya's head._

_.. .._

Aryel and Sayid tied up the woman, against a tree and watched as she slouched forward, her hair falling in front of her face.

'what is your name?' Sayid asked her.

The woman didn't answer; in fact, Aryel noticed that she looked as if she was the definition of broken.

'who are you?' Sayid demanded.

She still didn't answer, and Aryel noticed her hand, her left hand to be exact.

'you're engaged,' Aryel spoke up. 'how long have you been engaged?'

Sayid looked at Aryel, wondering where she was going with this, and if this tactic would work.

The woman's head moved up slightly, but she didn't shake the hair out of her face.

'for...forty-nine days,' the woman whispered, and Aryel was sure no one else saw it, but Aryel did. She saw the teardrop fall to the ground, and Aryel knew she was broken.

'why are you here?' Aryel knelt down in front of her, knowing that there must have been a specific reason she was here, knowing that a women this broken didn't hang around a beach just for the Hell of it. There was a reason.

'I'm here for my fiancée,' she whispered.

'what's your fiancée's name?' Aryel asked.

The woman slowly lifted her head, making her hair move out of her face, and Aryel stared at her in shock.

'Ethan,' she said.

The woman watched as everyone around Aryel looked completely shocked, many looking as if they wanted to say something, many looking angry. But Aryel stared at her.

'someone get Maya down here,' Aryel said softly, staring at the woman, still in shock.

'...why?' Claire asked, she hadn't seen the women's eyes, only Aryel had before the woman had looked down again. No one understood.

'she's in the Hatch. Get her down here,' Aryel said softly. 'now.'

Claire looked unsure, but Sun next to her began running off to the Hatch. Aryel moved behind the woman, to the tree, and she took a hold of the rope.

'what are you doing, Aryel?' Sayid asked her.

'I'm untying her,' she shrugged.

He paused. 'and why would you do that?'

'I just want her to see Ethan's gr-'

'we can't, Aryel,' Sayid said.

'Sayid,' Aryel began to argue in the women's defence.

'we do not know if she is lying, Aryel,' Sayid said. 'she could be making it all up.'

'I'm not,' the woman said. 'I swear, I'm not.'

Aryel stared at the woman as she broke down again, staring across at Ethan's grave.

Aryel sighed.

.. ..

Sun was not entirely sure what she would come across, entering the Hatch, but what she found, Maya, Oz, Liliana, Jack and Locke, all lying on the ground, unconscious, was not what she expected.

There was a sound, a sound coming from the other room, and Sun turned and rushed there, knowing that it was where Sammy and Michelle were, and she hoped that whatever had happened to the five in the other room, the two injured ones had been spared.

She saw that Michelle had woken up, and Sun gave her a small smile.

'Michelle, how are you?' Sun asked, very distractedly, looking around, for anyone who could have caused what had happened out in the other room.

'Sun,' Michelle smiled. 'it's good to see you. I'm fine. Do you know where my wife is?'

Sun gave a smile. 'I'll look into it,' she said softly before she retreated.

She walked back out, just as she heard a groan, several groans in fact, from Maya, Oz and Locke.

'I'm gonna kill him,' Maya muttered angrily.

.. ..

'so,' Deniz sat down next to Lucy and Mindy. 'do you have any idea where the diaries...went.' she finished slowly when she realized that Mindy was engrossed with them.

'I let Mindy read them,' Lucy shrugged.

Deniz stared at the two of them.

'what?' Lucy asked, looking up at her, noticing the look on her face.

'that was our secret. Just the two of us,' Deniz said.

'well now it's the three of ours secret,' Lucy shrugged.

.. ..

'what happened?' Sun asked as the five got their bearings back and all looked around, still suspicious.

'it was Michael,' Jack said.

'what?' Sun asked in shock. 'why would he -?'

'he went after his kid, Walt, is it?' Liliana asked and Maya nodded. 'he went after Walt.'

Jack headed over to the gun vault and he took out a few guns.

'what are you doing, Jack?' Locke asked him.

'Going after him,' Jack said matter-of-factly, passing Locke a gun.

'you can't go!' Sun exclaimed quickly, remembering suddenly why she had been sent here.

'she's right,' Liliana agreed. 'Michelle and Sammy need you.'

'no,' Sun waved it away. 'it's not that. One of Them is at the camp. And Aryel wants Maya down there to help her out.'

'I'll-' Jack began too.

'no,' Oz said to him. 'you and Locke should track down Michael.'

'who will-' Jack began.

'Jack. You don't always have to be the hero,' Maya said, somewhat gently. 'Oz and I will go down to the beach, and we'll have Sayid, Aryel and Jason to help us, people like that.'

'well, what about-' Jack began again, looking into the next room.

'I'll look after Michelle and Sammy,' Liliana said. 'don't worry.'

'I'll help her,' Sun said. 'don't worry,' she repeated. 'just find Michael.'

.. ..

'I never would have pegged her for the type with a kid,' Layla said as they watched Yoon, Sun and Min-Hee across the beach.

'yeah, I know,' Lucian said in awe.

At that moment, Maya and Oz rushed onto the beach, searching with their eyes for Aryel.

'Maya!' Aryel exclaimed across the beach.

Maya located her standing with Sayid by a tied up woman, a woman who looked familiar to Maya, a woman she hadn't seen in years.

'Aryel...how'd you find her?' Maya asked softly as she made her way over there.

'she was watching the beach. She didn't look like she was about to attack, she was just watching. That's why she interests me,' Aryel said. 'Sayid thinks it was a tactic. What about you?'

'she's not dangerous,' Maya said. 'just...'

'broken?' Aryel asked and Maya looked at her quickly. 'yeah, I got that vibe from her too.'

Maya looked at the woman, almost pityingly.

'who is she to you?' Oz asked softly.

'what?' Maya asked sharply.

'we both know that she means something to you,' Aryel said to Maya. 'so what is it?'

Maya stared at her.

.. ..

_Maya, a nineteen year old Maya, a pregnant Maya, entered the small clinic and made her way to the front desk._

'_uh, hi,' she said to the disinterested receptionist. 'does Dr Sahin have a patient now?'_

'_she's on her lunch break. You can make an appointment if you want,' she shrugged._

'_she in her office?' Maya asked._

'_yeah, but she's still on her lunch break. I can get you an appointment afterwards, yeah?'_

'_I'll just go to her office now-'_

'_no!' the receptionist exclaimed. 'she's not to be disturbed during her lunch break, she gets very annoyed when she is!'_

_The door to the office in question opened._

'_what's going on out here?' the doctor asked sharply._

'_well-' the receptionist started._

'_hey, sis,' Maya said. 'so, you're the expert of the family in this kind of thing,' she put a hand on her stomach._

'_what's going on?' Esther sighed, leading her into the office and closing the door._

'_I think there's something wrong with the baby. I'm getting cramps and-'_

_Esther smirked. 'honey, I think you think it's labour. Right?'_

'_right,' Maya sighed._

_.. .._

'have you seriously never skinned a boar?' Jason laughed, watching as Laura struggled to do so.

'I know the theory of it, okay?' she said impatiently. 'I can do this, okay? I've skinned plenty of other animals.'

'okay, sure, you can do this,' he said before he sat back and watched her struggle with the boar.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye, trying to ignore the huge smirk on his face.

'okay, fine,' she snapped. 'help me.'

Jason complied, moving behind her and taking a grip on her hand with the knife, slowly showing her how to skin it with precision. He was aware that as he did so, he distracted her immensely, as he placed a kiss to her cheek.

Laura turned and went to kiss his lips, but at that moment Jack and Locke walked into the clearing. The two stopped and looked at Laura and Jason for a moment before they started walking again.

'what are you two doing?' Jason asked.

Jack looked at him. 'what about you two?'

'he's teaching me to skin a boar,' Laura said brightly. 'so what are you two doing?'

'Michael took a gun and went after Walt,' Locke said. 'so we're trying to find him before something happens to him. Would you like to join us?'

Jason and Laura looked at each other.

'why not?' they said in unison.

.. ..

Kat could not help but smile as she entered the room to see Emmy and Josie talking and laughing, before she realized that she didn't actually like Emmy.

'Josie,' Kat said and she looked up. 'I need-'

'hey, Kat, have you seen Esther?' Gus hurriedly entered the room. Without waiting for an answer, he pressed on. 'we've been doing therapy at her place, and I went over there, and there was a note from her, simply saying she was not going to be there. I need to know she hasn't done anything drastic. Have you seen her?'

'no,' Kat said. 'but where's your girlfriend at? We need her.'

Gus looked surprised; Kat was known to refuse to work with Hayden at all, so this must be good.

'she's back home. Why-?' he began to ask, but she cut him off.

'Carlos, Cam and co. Are with Ziska over at Hydra. That means I'm low on my people for awhile. And I need my people now.'

Gus nodded and left the room, evidently going back to searching for Esther.

'what do you need?' Josie said to Kat.

'Michael's coming. Jack and some of the others are following. I need a team. That's where you come in. I already have Tom, Juliet, Josh, Krist, Scar, I've even got Matt. I need a big team.'

'what about Emmy?' Josie suggested.

Kat's eyes flicked over to her. 'can't. She wouldn't know the first thing about these things. I'll meet you back home in ten minutes,' she said before leaving.

'well, then,' Emmy said, offended. 'I know when I'm not wanted.'

.. ..

Aryel, Oz and Maya approached Sayid and the woman, and Aryel stood in front of her again.

'so, I'm back,' Aryel said cheerfully to the woman. She didn't look up, but she seemed to relax a bit, it seemed as if Sayid had been giving her a hard time.

'now, why did you need Maya?' Sayid asked her and the woman's head moved up a bit.

Maya and Aryel ignored Sayid and they both knelt down in front of the woman.

'Esther...' Maya trailed off softly and eyebrows were raised around the group that were watching. 'now, I know I said the next time I'd see you, I'd kill you, but, why are you here?'

The woman, Esther, looked up and she had a mixture of sadness, pain and anger in her eyes.

'who was it who killed Ethan?' Esther asked clearly and strongly.

.. ..

'so, do you actually know where Michael was heading?' Laura asked.

'he was going after Walt,' Jack said.

'yeah?' Jason asked. 'and do any of us actually _know _where that is?'

They all looked at each other.

'if we just follow the trail he leaves, we'll be fine,' Locke said.

.. ..

'why do you want to know that?' Sayid asked Esther, but she kept her mouth closed where he was concerned, she had already decided that she didn't want to speak to him, just Aryel and Maya.

'remember,' Aryel began. 'she said that she was his fiancée.'

'you're engaged?' Maya asked in surprise.

'_was_,' Esther snapped. 'I _was _engaged. Until whoever it was, a blonde man and a blonde woman shot him.'

They all stared at her in shock. How did she know-?

'I was there,' she whispered. 'I saw the blonde man and woman each put three bullets in him, I saw none of you care at all. I was there. I had to be held back and a hand placed over my mouth so I did not scream or jump down there. I saw you all stand there, not caring at all. And I was up in a tree, being held tightly by a friend because I was falling apart, as you all didn't care for the life that was just taken. I was there. And I want to talk to the two people who shot him, so they can know that they took away someone's happiness, that they took away the chance of a future that means something other than sadness. I was there,' she repeated; as if she hadn't gotten her point across quite so clearly.

Maya tilted her head to the side in thought.

'you really loved him, huh?' she asked.

'still do,' Esther muttered angrily, shooting them all death glares.

Maya and Aryel shared a look before they walked away with Sayid and Oz, ready to discuss how the hell to deal with this.

.. ..

'for those of you who don't know,' Kat began as her team assembled at her house, ready to go. 'this is a mission to show them who is boss.'

Hayden scoffed.

Kat ignored her and pressed on. 'I will be the one primarily doing the talking, and Josie will be with me, as they know her already. Josh is also going to be with us. The rest of you will have assault rifles and will set up fires as we talk. Just to show them there is more than three of us. Juliet, Hayden and Scar will be looking after the prisoner we will be giving back.'

They all stared at her in shock.

'what?' she sighed.

'who are we giving back?' Juliet asked.

'Evangeline. She is of no use to us anymore. Let's get moving. We don't have much time.'

.. ..

_Maya blearily opened her eyes and looked around the room, a hospital room. She didn't remember what happened. She remembered that there was blood, that she had been bleeding, that Esther had surgeons fix her, making sure her baby would be okay, that he would be fine._

_But Maya knew that something had gone wrong. She could feel it within her._

_So when she noticed Esther at the end of the bed, she didn't know why it surprised her that she had a grave expression on her face._

'_what?' Maya sighed. 'what happened?'_

'_there was a complication...' Esther trailed off. 'the baby, he-'_

'_Chander,' Maya interrupted. 'can you call him Chander?' she asked, trying to prolong the inevitable, when she knew what it was that Esther had to say, but not wanting to hear it._

'_Chander...' she trailed off. 'after dad?'_

'_yes,' she said, as if it was obvious to all, which it was._

'_it's a nice name.'_

'_for the love of _God_, just say it!'_

'_he didn't make it!' she blurted out before covering her mouth in shock that she had been that blunt with her own sister, before she quickly ducked as Maya threw a book from next to the bed at her._

'_Jesus Christ,' Esther muttered, as she moved again. 'I'm sorry, we did all that-' she ducked as another book was thrown. '-we could, but it took longer than we thought, and there was too much damage, and we had to tie-' another book was thrown. '-your tubes.'_

_Maya halted halfway through throwing another book._

'_...what?' she asked. 'does that mean what I think it means?'_

'_w-what do you think it means?' Esther asked cautiously._

'_that I can't have any children, ever...' she trailed off. '...so?'_

_Esther nodded slowly. 'yeah...that's what it-'_

_The rest of her sentence was cut off when Maya succeeded in hitting her in the face with the book._

.. ..

'Who are we to tell anyone what they can or can't do?' Locke asked Jack, who looked at him, almost critical at what he had said.

Jason and Laura exchanged a look, knowing that Jack and Locke, no matter what, would always have differing opinions.

Suddenly there were gunshots and they all looked in the general direction they came from.

'Michael!' Jack yelled out.

Locke, Jason and Laura each reached out to him.

'Jack! Get down,' Locke told him, but Jack had ignored him, and he began running off.

The other three followed reluctantly.

_.. .._

'she's insane,' Oz announced.

'runs in the family,' Maya sighed.

'so she's family?' Sayid asked.

'she's my older sister,' Maya sighed. 'I haven't seen her in four years, ever since...don't worry,' she finished. 'I hate her with utmost passion,' she sighed in a deadpan voice.

Oz looked at her, slightly concerned for her wellbeing, but she either didn't notice or she totally ignored him.

'so what are we going to do?' Aryel asked.

'she seems harmless enough,' Oz again looked at Maya. 'is she?'

'yeah, I think she is,' Maya crossed her arms over her chest and she looked back at Esther.

'well, she seems out for the blood of Jason and Laura,' Aryel said.

Maya let out a hollow laugh. 'Esther could never kill someone on purpose. She's a doctor. She-'

'Jason and Yoon are doctors,' Sayid said. 'they have no problem killing.'

'she's a fertility doctor,' she corrected. 'she brings life, she doesn't take it away.'

'but they killed the guy she loved,' Oz said. 'it may just be me, but if someone killed the one I loved, I would be out for revenge.'

The other three stared at him, as if wondering who the Hell had impersonated him, Oz was a peaceful guy, and it was not like him to say something like that.

'what?' he asked. 'I would be pissed.'

'rightfully so,' Maya agreed. 'he's right. I was out for revenge when it happened to me.'

'but is _she_ out for revenge?' Sayid asked.

None of them had an answer.

.. ..

Deniz walked past the woman who was tied up, annoyed at Lucy. It wasn't fair. The two of them had done everything together since day one, they had explored together, they had theorized together, they had agreed to keep their discovery a secret from everyone else.

And now Lucy was telling Melinda their secrets.

It wasn't fair, and it wasn't right.

'you look just like your mother, still,' a voice said, and Deniz turned, to see the tied up woman talking to her.

'shut up,' Kate told the woman, but Deniz didn't pay a lot of attention to that.

'you don't know who I am, you're just trying to scare me, aren't you?' Deniz asked her.

The woman smiled as unbroken as she could. 'you're a lot like Devika, Deniz. But you have those eyes of your father.'

'I said, shut up,' Kate said.

'but you're here, without either of them, makes me wonder,' she mused. 'you with Maya?'

'I am,' Deniz said slowly. 'who are you?'

'your mothers sister, don't you remember me? It's only been four years,' she said.

Deniz stared at her. 'Esther, right?'

'right.'

Kate turned to Esther and opened her mouth.

'yeah, I know, "shut up",' Esther said. 'I'm done anyway.'

.. ..

'what do you mean you've lost the trail?' Jack asked Locke several hours later.

'I need light to follow it,' Locke told him and Jason passed him the torch Jack had lit and given him.

'I think we'd better head back,' Locke said to Jack.

'Just find the trail, John,' Jack said to him.

'I've lost the trail,' Locke told him.

'why don't we just make camp, and start again in the morning when it's light?' Laura asked, somewhat tired at the two of them arguing.

'no, we're going to keep going, Locke's going to find us the trail again,' Jack said.

'or you could listen to the only sane one here, and make a fire, otherwise it'd be quite hard to have a civilized conversation with you all.'

The four turned to see a blonde woman there.

'who are you?' they all asked.

'I believe you've met my daughter,' the woman said, and as if on cue, Josie walked out and looked at her the woman.

'all clear,' she said softly.

Jason lifted his gun, ready to shoot at Josie, but a bullet whizzed through the air, grazing his neck. He put his hand to his neck to feel blood.

'It'd probably be best if we just keep our hands at our sides, gentlemen,' a man said, walking out of the jungle too. 'and lady, of course,' he nodded towards Laura.

'Where's Michael?' Jack asked.

'I reckon it's about time we had a talk,' Katarina said.

.. ..

Aryel brought the water to Esther's lips, watching as she drank it thirstily.

'I'm sorry, you know,' Aryel said softly, hoping no one could hear her at all, apart from the tied up woman.

'for what?' Esther muttered.

'for Ethan. For your fiancée dying because of us,' she said. 'I'm sorry.'

Esther gave a grim smile.

'at least one of you is.'

.. ..

'sit down, Jack, I insist,' Kat said. 'I come in peace.'

'how do you know our names?' Jason asked.

'remember, the chick who betrayed us is standing right here,' Laura rolled her eyes.

'it's not betrayal if you're not on that side to begin with,' Josh said.

'You took Walt,' Jack said.

'he's fine,' Josh said. 'he's a very special boy, and he's being taken care of,' he said, remembering just how well Scar did of that.

'you said you wanted to talk,' Jason said. 'so you going to start?'

'how long have you been on this Island?' Kat asked him conversationally.

'about fifty days,' Laura said.

'fifty days, wow, that ain't that long, is it?' Josh said, almost condescendingly.

'seems like you think you own the place,' Kat agreed. 'but let me ask you something, when you go over to a man's house for the first time, do you put your feet up on the coffee table? Do you eat food that doesn't belong to you? Open up things that aren't meant to be opened? You know, somebody a whole lot smarter than anybody here once said: "Since the dawn of our species man's been blessed with curiosity."'

'someone else also said "curiosity killed the cat",' Josie added.

'guess that's why cats have nine lives,' Laura shot back.

'This is not your island,' Kat informed them, suddenly turning colder than before. 'This is _our_ island. And the only reason you're living on it is because we let you live on it.'

Jack scoffed. 'I don't believe you. I think you've got one guy up there with a gun. I think there's not as many people as you want us to believe. I think if you had any real strength, you wouldn't have had to send a spy – Ethan and Josie. And now that woman you sent to our camp today.'

Kat looked at Josie.

'Esther...I'm on it,' Josie said before taking a gun from Josh and running off.

'hmmm, you think that, hey?' Kat said to Jack, back to the conversation. 'anyone want to prove him wrong?' she called out into the night and they all watched as torches were lit in a circle around the group.

Kat smirked at the look on Jack's face.

'We've got a misunderstanding, Jack - your people, my people,' she said. 'So listen carefully. Right here, there's a line. You cross that line; we go from misunderstanding to something else completely. Now, give me your weapons, turn around, go home.'

Jack stared at her. 'no.'

Laura and Jason sighed in unison at how stubborn he was being and threw their guns down on the ground. What the Others didn't know was that the two of them were also wearing ankle holsters with a gun in them.

'Jack, maybe...' Locke said.

'no!'

Kat sighed. 'you really are difficult, you know that?' she said. 'bring her out, Hayden!' she called out.

.. ..

'go on,' Juliet urged Hayden.

'I can't,' Hayden whispered. 'that's my brother out there. What would he-?' she couldn't finish her sentence.

'Please?' Hayden said. Juliet sighed and grabbed Eva's arm.

As soon as they were gone, Scar turned to Michael. 'don't worry about Walt, Michael. He's okay. I've been looking after him.'

Hayden gave her a quizzical look.

Scarlett was not one to act like that, ever.

So what the Hell made this kid different?

.. ..

'now, you don't know this woman,' Kat said, taking the bag off Eva's head. 'but this is Evangeline Mercier. Yeah, I can see that name is ringing a bell to you. Mercier. Trying to think about it now, aren't you? Well, I'll help you out. Mercier. Lucy and Mindy, the twins back at camp. This is Evangeline, their mother. Now, would you really be able to live with yourself if you let this woman get shot in front of you, making her daughters orphans? And to let me lose my sister?' she added as an afterthought and Jack looked surprised. 'yeah, you probably don't care about that, I mean, _I _don't. But it's your call. I'm going to count down. 3, 2-'

Jack threw his gun down, as did Locke.

'nice seeing you,' Kat said as she and Josh picked up the guns and she pushed Evangeline towards them before the torches went out and they left.

Laura pulled the gag off Evangeline.

'damn it, she wasn't going to shoot me!' Evangeline exclaimed.

'hi,' Laura smirked. 'I'm Laura. Nice to meet you.'

.. ..

Deniz stared across the fire at Lucy and Mindy reading through yet another one of the diaries, and she didn't even notice as Roxy sat down next to her.

'you know, she still loves you,' Roxy said brightly.

'I'm sorry?' Deniz asked.

'I've been watching you, all today, and you seem angry, angry at Lucy and Mindy, at least. And I don't know what it is Lucy's sharing with Mindy, that you don't want her to, and I'm not going to ask, but... Mindy seems like Lucy's best friend as well as sister. And they thought each other to be dead for almost two months. They need time to catch up. It's not that she doesn't love you,' Roxy said simply before she got up and left Deniz to her thoughts.

.. ..

Jack, Laura, Jason, Locke and Evangeline walked onto the beach and several people looked up.

'Jack,' Kate said. 'how'd it go? Did you find him?'

'no,' Jack said to them all. 'but we will. And we were returned with a prisoner of the Others. This is Evangeline.'

At this name, Lucy's and Mindy's heads shot up and they ran over, almost tackling her to the ground in a death grip. Eva held the two of them tight and smiled widely.

Aryel and Maya walked over, with not very happy expressions on their faces.

'Jason, Laura,' Maya said. 'we need your help.'

.. ..

The four walked back over to where Oz and Sayid were with Esther.

'need help breaking her?' Jason asked.

'no,' Oz said. 'she wasn't even that hard to break.'

'then what do you need?' Laura asked.

'so, while you guys were off doing God knows what, in fact, I don't _really _want to know what the two of you do when al-'

'we were trying to find Michael,' Laura said.

'yeah, okay, that's maybe what you did for part of the day, but while you did that, we had to deal with this woman who wanted to speak with only the two of you.'

'why?' Jason asked.

'well, we'll let her tell you that,' Maya said.

'okay, this is Esther,' Aryel said to Jason and Laura. 'she's the sister of Maya, and the fiancée of the late Ethan. Who you two shot,' she reminded them.

The two exchanged a look. Oh shit.

Esther stared at them.

'this is Jason and Laura,' Maya said to her before Aryel, herself, Oz and Sayid took a few steps away.

'hi...' Laura trailed off.

'why...why'd you have to shoot him?' Esther asked them softly, heartbroken.

'he was trying to kidnap my sister again,' Jason said, he was not going to show any sympathy for this woman when her fiancée was the one who had started it all.

'he was following orders!' she hissed. 'he didn't want to do it, the only reason he did the first time was because it was going to save her. She was in danger without people who knew of the situation beforehand. Ethan knew that danger, and so he tried to help her. And you two were so trigger happy that you didn't really think of _why _he was doing it; you just wanted to protect the ones you love. But I want to look you in the eyes and see that you both know what you did to me, that you both know that you have ruined the rest of my life. I want to see you two realize that I'm broken, and you two are the ones to blame.'

Laura met her eyes but Jason couldn't bring himself to.

'I'm sorry,' she breathed softly, not being able to get her voice any louder than that. 'I'm sorry.'

Jason refused to look at her still, and just walked away.

Laura looked after him in shock, she would have thought that Jason would have known how she felt, what, with what happened to his wife and all, but he didn't.

'he's sorry too, he just can't say it,' Laura said, before following him. 'what's your problem?' she demanded of Jason as she followed him back to his tent.

'I'm never going to feel sorry for One of Them,' he said. 'not after what they tried to do.'

'she just lost her fiancée,' Laura said.

'I know,' he muttered.

'like, two weeks ago,' she said.

'I know,' he repeated.

'because of us,' she said.

'dammit, I know!' he turned around to face her and she was taken aback by how pained he looked.

'Jason...' she trailed off. 'your wives' death wasn't your fault. You know that...right?'

Jason paused.

'you know that, right?' she repeated.

'right,' he sighed and she leaned up, putting her arms around him.

.. ..

He stood next to a tree as he smoked, and he suddenly became very aware of someone right behind him.

'evening,' the soft voice of Josie floated into his ear.

'didn't even hear you coming,' Luka said.

'good. Because, you know, I've been in this tree longer than you've been standing there,' she said.

Luka rolled his eyes and looked over his shoulder to see that she was currently hanging upside down from a tree with her head next to his.

'why you here?' he asked her.

Josie nodded her head towards Esther. 'why's she here? Did she say?'

'she's here because of Ethan,' he sighed.

'I thought she would be,' she nodded.

The two lapsed into silence for a minute.

'help me down, would you?' she asked, and he turned around, grabbing a hold of her by her waist a she let go, and he caught her fully.

'glad to know I've got someone to catch me when I fall,' Josie smiled, placing a kiss to his cheek before she walked away.

She would get Esther in a few hours.

.. ..

All around the beach camp everyone was sleeping. All of them, everyone but Esther. And now it seemed whoever was walking towards her.

Esther didn't say a thing as the woman untied her.

'come with me,' the woman whispered, and Esther noted a slight limp as she walked, and she followed her, to where Esther had been planning on going to begin with.

Ethan's grave.

Esther shakily walked over there and she knelt down in front of the grave, the woman standing a few feet behind her.

'Ethan...' she whispered softly. 'I love you, Ethan...' she breathed softly, tears in her eyes.

She knelt there for some time, before the other woman put a hand on her shoulder.

'I'm sorry, I really am, but...you have to go now,' she said. 'before people wake up and realize what's going on.'

'okay,' Esther said and she stood up and threw her arms around the woman.

'thank you,' she said before she rushed off.

'no problem...' the woman murmured after her.

.. ..

The next morning, Sayid and Oz walked over to Maya as she walked back onto the beach.

'what did you do?' Sayid asked her.

'excuse me?' Maya looked genuinely confused.

'what made you let her go?' Sayid asked.

'she's gone?' Maya asked. They nodded grimly. 'I had nothing to do with it.'

'I don't believe you,' Sayid said.

'well, I do,' Oz said to him, although he still looked like he thought Maya had done it.

'I didn't,' Maya said. 'I would never let her go.'

Sayid stared at her.

'what's going on?' Kate approached them all.

'someone let her go last night,' Maya said. 'they think it was me.'

'it couldn't have been,' Kate said to Sayid. 'she was with me all night at the Hatch.'

Sayid looked at Maya as she walked away, back to her tent. Aryel stared at her as she passed, and Maya caught her eye for a second before she looked away.

.. ..

Jack took a seat next to Constance, Laura and Jason.

'can we help you?' Constance said.

'you've all killed One of Them,' Jack said.

'and...?'

'I was told you were a cop,' Jack said to Constance.

'yeah, I am,' she nodded.

'and you're FBI, and you're a soldier?' he asked Laura and Jason respectively and they nodded.

'what are you getting at, Jack?' Laura sighed.

Jack looked at them all intently.

'How long do you think it would take to train an army?' he asked them.

The three exchanged a look.

.. ..

Oz walked into Maya's tent after her and she turned around.

'you think I did it,' she stated, almost angrily.

'yeah...' he nodded slowly. 'yeah, I'm sorry, I kind of do.'

'why?' she demanded.

'because...she's your sister,' he said simply and she opened her mouth to snap furiously, but he started talking again. 'look, I know you say you hate her, but I think even if you did hate her, you would want her to be safe, somewhere, within you. So...I think you did it. It's okay if you did, Maya. I won't tell anyone.'

He began walking out, but she stopped him with only a few words.

'she killed my baby.'

Oz turned and looked at her in aghast.

'yeah,' Maya nodded. 'I told you a couple weeks ago that I couldn't have kids, and she's the reason why. I had been pregnant, I went into labour. My baby was in distress...she couldn't save him in time... in fact; there was so much damage to me, that my tubes had to be tied. That's why I hate her. She ruined my chance to have children, ever. So...don't you dare assume I want her to be safe.'

Oz took a step towards her and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

'do...do you still think it was me?' she asked softly.

'no. I don't.'

And then he kissed her deeply, a move that shocked her beyond all belief, but a move she didn't mind.

In fact, she kissed him back.

.. ..

_Maya turned suddenly as someone entered her tent. _

'_what do you want?' she asked the woman._

'_how much do you hate your sister?' the woman questioned._

'_enough.'_

'_enough to want her to be a prisoner?' _

_Maya didn't answer._

'_enough to want her to be in pain?'_

_Still no answer._

'_enough to want her dead?'_

_Maya bit her lip. The other woman smirked. _

'_I didn't think so.'_

'_what do you want?' Maya asked her._

'_I want you to go up to the Hatch for the night,' she told her._

'_...why?' Maya asked._

'_because I need you to have an alibi. For when I let your sister go.'_

_Maya's eyes were wide. 'come again?'_

'_I'm letting your sister go,' she bit her lip. 'it's the right thing to do. They'll think it's you who did it, so you need an alibi. Go to the Hatch. Right now.'_

_Maya slowly nodded. 'okay...okay, fine. I'm guessing you don't want anyone to know it was you?'_

'_no one is to know.'_

'_okay, fine,' she repeated, picking up a water bottle. 'I'm leaving now.'_

_She began walking out, but then she turned around and looked at the woman._

'_tell me first, why are you doing this?' she wondered._

_Aryel gave a grim smile._

'_She came here to grieve...she didn't come here for a fight.'_

.. ..

**I think I'm falling in love with Aryel :) it's happening, guys, it really is. I reckon she's awesome. Anyway, Merry Christmas! **

**Also, to you all: poll on my authors page.**

**Also, please check out my two new one shots :)**

**Reviews?**


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